




















/ 


































































“YOU- YOU SAVED MY LIFE,” SHE REPLIED. 


Jack Ranger's Treasure Box 


Page 144 


JACK RANGER’S 
TREASURE BOX 


Or 

The Outing of the Schoolboy Yachtsmen 


BY 

CLARENCE YOUNG 

H 

AUTHOR OF “JACK RANGER’S SCHOOLDAYS,” “JACK RANGER*S 
WESTERN TRIP” “JACK RANGER’S GUN CLUB,” “THE 
MOTOR BOYS,” “THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE 
CLOUDS, ” ETC. 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW YORK 

CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY 

c 1 ^ Ho 


BOOKS BY CLARENCE YOUNG 


THE JACK RANGER SERIES 
12mo. Illustrated. 


JACK RANGER’S SCHOOLDAYS 
JACK RANGER’S WESTERN TRIP 
JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL VICTORIES 
JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 
JACK RANGER’S GUN CLUB 
JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 
(Other volumes in preparation) 


THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES 

{Trade Mark , Reg. U. S. Pat. Of.) 

12mo. Illustrated. 

I 

% 

THE MOTOR BOYS 
THE MOTOR BOYS OVERLAND 
THE MOTOR BOYS IN MEXICO 
THE MOTOR BOYS ACROSS THE PLAINS 
THE MOTOR BOYS AFLOAT 
THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC 
THE MOTOR BOYS IN STRANGE WATERS 
THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE PACIFIC 
THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE CLOUDS 
THE MOTOR BOYS OVER THE ROCKIES 
THE MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 
(Other volumes in preparation) 

Cuppies Leon Co . , Publishers , New York 


Copyright, 1911, by 
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY 


JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 


i v % n 3 ^ 

5 -°l 


Printed in U. S. A. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I. Almost a Fight i 

II. The Skeleton at the Feast n 

III. A Chance for a Long Cruise 25 

IV. The Treasure Box 38 

V. What is in it? 48 

VI. Caleb Herkimer is Startled 58 

VII. Fun with Fathead Farson 65 

VIII. The Treasure Box is Gone 78 

IX. The Detectives Arrive 83 

X. A New Clew 90 

XI. A Change of Plans 99 

XII. All Aboard! 109 

XIII. Jack’s Dilemma 123 

XIV. Saved from the Sea . . 131 

XV. Jack is Puzzled 145 

XVI. The Derelict Destroyer 155 

XVII. An Accident 162 

XVIII. Limping to Port 167 

XIX. The Strange Vessel 174 

XX. The Hatpin 186 

XXI. Budge is Tangled up 193 

XXII. In the Lightning Flash 198 


CONTENTS 


CHAPTER PAGE 

XXIII. At Porto Rico 206 

XXIV. Hemp Smith 214 

XXV. Two Odd Letters . . 224 

XXVI. Off for Cavern Island . . « . . . . 235 

XXVII. Helpless at Sea « . 242 

XXVIII. Budge Falls Overboard ....... 248 

XXIX. A Startling Discovery ....... 255 

XXX. The Empty Box 263 

XXXI. The Flight 271 

XXXII. The Pursuit 277 

XXXIII. The Secret of the Box — Conclusion . . 284 


JACK RANGER’S TREASURE 
BOX 


CHAPTER I 

ALMOST A FIGHT 

“Here you go, Jack, have a catch!” and Sam 
Chalmers tossed the ball with great swiftness to 
a tall, good looking chap, one of a number of 
students strolling over the campus of Washington 
Hall. Jack Ranger made a leap into the air, to 
capture the horsehide, and sent it back again, with 
unerring accuracy. 

“Fine!” cried Chalmers, who, as the foremost 
authority on baseball in the school, might be con- 
sidered as knowing what a good catch was. “Fine, 
Jack! Come on, and we’ll have a game.” 

“Hold on, Jack,” begged Dick, otherwise 
known as “Bony” Balmore, because of his extreme 
thinness. “Come over to my room. I’ve got a 
great scheme on tap. It’ll be a rich joke !” 

“Go on!” yelled Nat Anderson, Jack’s most 
particular chum, “you promised to come with me, 
Jack, and have a quiet little feed in our room. 
Tantalizing tarantulas ! But I’ve got to think up 
2 


2 


JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

something to do when we. get back to Denton, to 
make the folks there realize that we’re still in 
the land of the living. I need your brain, Jack, to 
help me plan something appropriate to celebrate 
our homecoming, and the closing of this ancient 
and honorable institution of learning,” and Nat, 
with a leap and a bound, locked his arms around 
his chum. 

This had rather a disastrous effect, as, at that 
moment Sam Chalmers once more threw the ball 
to Jack, and the latter’s arms being pinned to his 
side by Nat, Jack could not make the catch. The 
ball whizzed past him, and struck a rather fat 
and slouchy lad, who was nearby, going plump 
against his chest with a dull thud. 

“Here! who threw that ball?” demanded the 
lad who had been struck so unexpectedly. 

“I did,” answered Sam promptly. “It was an 
accident, though, Snaith.” 

“I don’t believe you !” spluttered the fleshy indi- 
vidual, who, from the fact that he boasted that he 
was going to be a physician, had been dubbed 
“Doc.” “It was Ranger.” 

“Well, I didn’t throw it, but I missed catching 
it, which amounts to the same thing,” responded 
Jack, throwing off the restraining hold of Nat 
Anderson, for Snaith, a bullying sort of chap, 
looked as if he intended to make trouble. 

“You did it on purpose, too, so it would hit 


ALMOST A FIGHT 


3 

me,” went on Doc. Snaith. “I’ve got a good 
notion to ” 

“Well, what are you going to do?” demanded 
Jack coolly. “I tell you it was an accident. 
Anderson was holding my arms. I repeat that 
I did not intend to let the ball hit you, and I need 
hardly point out that if you persist in insisting that 
I did it on purpose it is the equivalent of calling 
me by a short and ugly name, in which case ” 

“Meandering mud turtles!” murmured Nat, 
who was given to odd expressions. “That’s quite 
an oration for Jack.” 

The crowd of students who had just been 
released from class and lecture rooms, thronged 
closer around Jack and his more intimate chums. 
At this sign of hostilities, Snaith, with an angry 
look on his face, strode toward Jack. 

“Don’t give me none of that razzle-dazzle 
talk,” blurted out the bully. “I say you let that 
ball hit me on purpose, Ranger, and I’m going 
to get square !” 

“At your service, Count,” retorted Jack, with 
a mocking bow. “When and where you please, as 
they say in the novels.” 

There was a laugh at this, for Jack, happy-go- 
lucky, light-hearted chap that he was, could carry 
off almost any situation to advantage. Snaith 
flushed. He was cooling down somewhat, for, 
more than once, he had come into a clash with 


4 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Jack, and more than once had he felt the weight of 
our hero’s fists in a good, square fight. 

“Well, I’m waiting,” said Jack calmly, as Snaith 
hesitated. 

“Hold on a minute,” entreated Sam Chalmers, 
pushing his way into the ring of lads about the two 
principals. “I’m in on this. If Doc Snaith wants 
to be accommodated, I can help him out.” 

“Who said anything to you?” demanded the 
bully. 

“Well, I threw the ball, and it wasn’t Jack’s 
fault that he missed it,” said Sam. 

“No, it was mine,” added Nat. “Heaving hip- 
popotamuses! We all seem to be getting in on 
this. It was partly my fault. I guess you’ll have 
to tackle all of us, Doc. — one after the other.” 

“Hu! Think you’re smart, don’t you?” sneered 
the bully. “But I’ll get square with all of you 
yet. It’s a good thing the term is almost over, or 
I’d make you wish you’d never come to Washing- 
ton Hall, Jack Ranger!” 

“That’ll do for you !” cried Jack sharply. “I’ve 
stood enough of your bullying! If you want any- 
thing out of me, Snaith, you know how to get it. 
We’ve met before, and I’m not at all averse to 
another little go with you, but I won’t have you 
making cracks like that. I’ve told you it was an 
accident, and if you insist that it wasn’t I’ll thrash 
you here and now, and take the consequences !’* 


ALMOST A FIGHT 


With blazing eyes and clenched fists, Jack took 
a step nearer his antagonist. Sam and Nat moved 
to his side, not to protect their chum, for Jack was 
fully capable of holding up his own end of any 
argument with the bully, but they wanted to 
assume their share of the blame. However, 
Snaith did not seem to want to carry the matter 
further. 

“All right,” he muttered. “I’m not going to 
fight now, and maybe lose my standing in class. 
But I’ll get square with you, Jack Ranger, and 
you, too, Chalmers and Anderson,” and with that 
he turned and made his way out of the circle of 
lads. 

“Gee! I was in hopes we’d see a nice little 
scrimmage before we said good-bye to this old 
shack,” remarked Fred Kaler, as he took out his 
mouth organ and began playing a march to keep 
time to Snaith’s retreating footsteps. The bully 
caught the strains of the music, and changed his 
gait, but Fred promptly changed the tune, and 
once more Snaith was marching to the melody of 
the harmonica. 

“You quit that!” he yelled, shaking his fist at 
Fred. 

“I guess it’s a free country,” retorted the musi- 
cal student. “I’ll play what I please,” and when 
Doc. tried to walk slowly, in order to defeat Fred’s 
plan, the owner of the mouth organ changed to a 


6 


JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX' 

funeral march that exactly fitted the lazy gait. 
There was a roar of laughter, and the discomfited 
fat lad hurried into the school dormitory. 

“Well, that’s over,” remarked Sam. “Come on 
now, Jack, and we’ll get up a ball game. The 
last of this season for Washington Hall, per- 
haps,” and the words were accompanied by a sigh, 
for Sam would rather play ball than eat. 

“Don’t you go with him, Jack, or you’ll get in 
more trouble,” urged Bony Balmore, cracking his 
eight finger knuckles one after another, like a bat- 
tery of popguns. “Come with me, and we’ll put 
up a game on Professors Gerlach and Socrat. It’ll 
be our last chance to have some fun with them.” 

“No, Jack and I have to organize a home cam- 
paign,” insisted Nat Anderson, who lived in Den- 
ton, Jack’s home town. “We want to celebrate 
our arrival there in a fitting manner.” 

“Better cut ’em all, and come with me,” advised 
Fred Kaler. “I’ve got a fresh lot of boiled hard- 
shell crabs in, and we can get the meat out with 
toothpicks, and drink ginger ale. I smuggled 
some in to-day, right under the nose of the moni- 
tor. I’ll blow you to a good feed, Jack, and I’ve 
learned two new tunes on the jewsharp.” 

“That settles it, I don’t go with you F* cried 
Jack, with a laugh. “No jewsharp music for mine 
in the last week of the term.” 

“Come on play ball, then!” urged Sam. 


ALMOST A FIGHT 


7 


“No, let’s plan a trick on the rival professors,” 
pleaded Bony, cracking more knuckle joints in his 
excitement 

“I’m your old home chum, come with me,” 
urged Nat. “Pickled pollywogs! But don’t you 
want to do something when you get back to Den- 
ton?” 

“Say, for cats’ sake, let me alone !” begged Jack. 
“I can’t be in seven places at once. Besides I ought 
to be boning away on my geometry, if I’m going 
to make good in the last exam. I can’t go with 
you fellows.” 

They renewed their pleading, but Jack was ob- 
durate until Bony Balmore, with a sudden inspira- 
tion, whispered something in Jack’s ear. 

“Is he going to give it to-night?” asked our 
hero eagerly. 

“To-night,” replied Bony, “and it will be a good 
chance to get square with him. He’s a regular 
coward, for all he says he’s going to be a doctor. 
Will you do it?” 

“Sure. Come on, and we’ll get it ready.” 

“I thought you said you had to bone on geome- 
try, Jack,” spoke Nat reproachfully, as his chum 
moved off, arm in arm with Bony Balmore. 

“So I do, fellows, but the geometry will keep, 
and this won’t. Listen, but keep mum. Bony has 
just proposed a great joke. I’ll let you all in on 
it soon, but first we have to get it ready. Now run 


8 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

off and play, like nice little boys,” and Jack as- 
sumed a fatherly air. “We’ll call you when it’s 
ready,” and ignoring the entreaties for him to take 
part in a ball game, or assist in some schoolboy 
pranks, Jack walked quickly over the campus with 
the thin student who had made a certain proposi- 
tion to him. 

As there will be a few minutes of comparative 
quietness now, though not more than that where 
Jack Ranger is concerned, this will be as good an 
opportunity as any, of telling you something more 
about him and his friends. 

Those of you who have read the first book of 
this series, entitled “Jack Ranger’s Schooldays,” 
need no special introduction to him. In that book 
was related how, after playing a number of pranks 
in Denton, where Jack lived with his three maiden 
aunts, the Misses Angelina, Josephine and Mary 
Stebbins, he was sent off to a boarding school. 
This was Washington Hall, sometimes called 
Lakeside Academy, from the fact that it was lo- 
cated on the shore of Rudmore Lake. There Jack 
was accompanied by his chum, Nat Anderson, 
whose activities in his home town also induced his 
parents to ship him off to school. In the first 
volume was told of a mystery concerning Jack’s 
father, and how Mr. Ranger was obliged to re- 
main in hiding in the far west, because of friend 


ALMOST A FIGHT 


9 

ship for a certain man, who was being sued over a 
land deal. 

In the second volume of the series, called “Jack 
Ranger’s Western Trip,” there was related how, 
learning from Judge Bennett, of Denton, some- 
thing of the mystery concerning Mr. Ranger, Jack 
set off to find his father in the far west. He had 
many adventures and passed through no little dan- 
ger before he ended his quest. And part of his 
trouble was caused by a man whose real name 
was Hemp Smith, but who called himself Mari- 
nello Booghoobally, and who sometimes posed as 
an East Indian mystic. 

The third book, called “Jack Ranger’s School 
Victories,” dealt with life at Washington Hall, in 
which Jack took an active part, and the fourth 
volume, “Jack Ranger’s Ocean Cruise,” gave in 
detail an account of his enforced trip on the Polly 
Ann, commanded by Captain Reeger, who, though 
not a bad man at heart, was in the power of a 
scoundrel named Jonas Lavine. Lavine sought 
to harm Jack and his chums, to get even with them 
for spying on him in his efforts to defraud the 
United States government. 

In the next volume, the fifth, entitled, “Jack 
Ranger’s Gun Club,” there was related the story 
of an interesting hunting trip Jack and his chums 
took out west to the “Bad Lands” district of Wyo- 
ming, and how they solved a certain mystery. The 


10 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 


boys had returned from the west in time to resume 
their studies at Washington Hall, and now the 
winter had passed, spring had come, and the long 
summer vacation was at hand. The closing days 
of school were, as usual, marked with jollity and 
sport, and in this our hero took a prominent part. 

“Now for some fun,” announced Bony, as he 
led Jack toward the medical laboratory. “The 
coast is clear, and I have everything we need in 
my room. This will be the joke of the year! I 
guess Snaith will wish he never gave a farewell 
banquet.” 

“It certainly will be great,” agreed Jack. “But 
we must let Nat and the other fellows in on it.” 

“Sure. Just as soon as we get it ready. I didn’t 
want them all to pile in at once, for fear it would 
leak out. It’s risky enough as it is. Now you and 
I will get the bundle of bones, and the rest will 
be easy. Then we’ll arrange for a private exhibi- 
tion.” 

“Good,” exclaimed Jack, and forthwith the 
two proceeded to carry out the joke. 


CHAPTER II 

THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST 

Moving quietly along the now deserted school 
corridors, for it was the hour when students and 
teachers were either preparing for supper, or 
strolling about, Jack and Bony made their way 
cautiously to the medical laboratory of the school. 
There, for the past weeks, class after class had 
assembled to peruse the intricacies of physics, 
chemistry or physiology. To aid them in the lat- 
ter science were charts, plaster casts of the human 
anatomy, and a complete skeleton, strung together 
in a realistic manner, and mounted on an iron rod 
on a pedestal, so that it stood upright. It was this 
skeleton that Jack and Bony were after. 

“Cheerful looking chap, isn’t he?” asked Jack, 
as they gained admittance to the laboratory, and, 
with keys surreptitiously “borrowed” from Socker, 
the janitor, had opened the closet containing the 
skeleton. “He has a perpetual grin on. Reminds 
me of you considerably, Bony. You might be 
twins.” 

“Cheese it, Jack! Such jokes are in bad taste,” 
and Bony Balmore, who had little more flesh on 

11 


12 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

him than had the anatomatical specimen in the 
closet, shuddered slightly. 

“Have you got the phosphorous, Bony?” 

“Sure — a lot of it in my room. Lively now, 
and then we’ll arrange the rest, and notify the 
others of our clan.” 

The two students lifted out the skeleton. In 
spite of the fact that it was only bones, the sup- 
ports and wires that held it together, and the ped* 
estal on which it stood, made no light burden. 

“You take the feet, and I’ll support the head,” 
directed Jack, and Bony did as requested. They 
passed through a dark hallway on their way to 
the thin lad’s room, and, as they reached a par- 
ticularly gloomy corner there came a sudden noise 
— it was the lower jaw bone of the skeleton rat- 
tling against the upper teeth. 

“What — what was that?” cried Bony, nearly 
dropping his end of the specimen, and he looked 
around apprehensively. 

“Go on, you goat!” cried Jack, endeavoring to 
stiffle a laugh. “I was merely testing our bony 
friend’s talking powers. He has a good jaw ac- 
tion. We’ll need that for to-night.” 

“I — I thought ” stammered Bony. 

“You’re getting superstitious,” interrupted Jack. 
“Hold on, what’s that?” 

“Some one’s coming!” whispered Bony. “Sounds 
like Martin, the monitor.” 


THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST 13 


There was no doubt about it. Footsteps were 
heard echoing along the corridor. 

“Caught !” groaned Jack. “Where can we hide 
the infernal thing? Let’s pitch it out of the win- 
dow !” 

“No, it’ll smash all to pieces. Here, can’t we 
stuff it behind this curtain?” 

“Too late,” murmured Jack, as a figure came 
into view just ahead of them. 

“Professor Socrat!” almost hissed Bony, as he 
beheld the French teacher. “He’ll spot us, sure I” 

“Leave it to me,” whispered Jack. “I think I 
can get away with it,” and, to Bony’s surprise, in- 
stead of sneaking along, or trying to hide the 
skeleton, Jack advanced boldly, still carrying his 
end. Bony followed. 

“Ah, good evening, Professor Socrat,” greeted 
our hero, as he came up to the French instructor. 
“I am happy to meet you,” and Jack bowed as 
low as was possible, while supporting one end of a 
skeleton. 

“Ah! It iss ze student Jack Ranger, also Mon- 
sieur Balmore,” responded M. Socrat, and not to 
be outdone in politeness, he, too, bowed. 

“We are hard at work, you observe,” went on 
Jack quickly, not giving the instructor time to ask 
any questions, for Bony could see by the aston- 
ished gaze of the professor, that he was anxious 
to know where the lads were going with the skele* 


i 4 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

ton. “We are losing no time before examinations 
close,” went on Jack. “Physiology is a most fasci- 
nating study, Professor Socrat, and it is easier to 
comprehend it when one has the bony structure 
plainly before one. Is it not so?” 

“Yes — yes, of course, yes, my dear Ranger— 
but ” 

Jack hastened to interrupt him. 

“It is curious how the jaw action is controlled,” 
went on our hero, and turning half around he 
caused the teeth of the skeleton to click together. 
“We wish particularly to look into that. Then 

the arm movement, the radius and the ulna ” 

Jack waved a bony hand in the professor’s face. 

“Sacre!” exclaimed the Frenchman, jumping 
back, for he had little liking for such grisly jokes. 
“Is eet possabile, Ranger, zat you contemplate 
studying ” 

“It’s never too late to study,” interrupted Jack. 
“We must get right to work. Kindly allow us to 
pass, Professor Socrat, as we must do considerable 
work yet to-night, and the examinations are to- 
morrow.” 

“Pardon!” murmured the polite Frenchman, 
thrown completely off his guard by Jack’s ingenu- 
ous manner. “I am of the utmost delight to see 
you so studious. I would zat my students in ze 
grand French tongue were such!” 

“I saw Professor Gerlach down the hall, talk- 


THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST 15 


ing to one of your French students,” spoke Bony, 
which was true enough, though the affair happened 
some hours back. “Perhaps he was trying to in- 
duce him to give up French and study German 
next year.” 

“No! Is zat so? You don’t tell me! I shall 
at once remonstrate wiz zat uncouth German pro- 
fessor !” cried M. Socrat, for between him and the 
representative of the Fatherland there was undy- 
ing racial hatred, on which the students played to 
their own advantage. “I t’ank you of ze utmost 
sincerity,” added the French teacher, and, thinking 
no more about the strange sight of two students 
carrying a skeleton, Monsieur Socrat hurried off, 
intent on rescuing his pupil from the clutches of 
his national enemy. 

“Whew!” exclaimed Jack, setting down his end 
of the figure, and moping his brow with his hand- 
kerchief. “That was a narrow squeak!” 

“Yes, but you managed to carry it off all right,” 
responded Bony. “Come on, now, before any one 
else spots us. It won’t be so easy to explain next 
time, though you have wonderful nerve, Jack.” 

They took up their odd burden, and, a little 
later, were safe in Bony’s room. There they got 
out a number of packages, some long strings, 
screw eyes, and a bottle of some substance that 
was kept under water. 


1 6 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Be careful of that phosphorous,” cautioned 
Bony. 

“Of course,” agreed Jack. “Well, I guess we've 
got everything ready, and we can go to grub now. 
Are you sure Snaith’s spread is to come off to- 
night?” 

“Sure, I know some of the fellows he invited. 
They’re not in our crowd, so we can settle off a 
lot of old scores this way.” 

“But how can you get in his room?” 

“Easy. You know his quarters open into an 
old closet that used to be a sort of storage room 
for books.” 

“Yes.” 

“Well, there is a door opening from that closet 
into Snaith’s room, and another door from the 
same closet into a room that is piled full of old 
desks, chairs and rubbish. The two doors are al- 
ways kept locked, but I got the janitor to tell me 
one of his war stories to-day, and he was so de- 
lighted at the chance of working off some of his 
alleged experiences, that he told me all I wanted to 
know. I also sneaked some keys off his ring, as 
I did the one to the closet where this bony gentle- 
man was confined. The rest is easy.” 

“What’s the game in detail?” 

“This. We’ll paint the skeleton with phospor- 
ous, so it will show in the dark. Then we’ll rig 
it up, as you suggested with strings run through 


THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST 17 

screw eyes, so we can dangle the legs and arms 
and rattle the jaw bone. Then I’ve arranged a 
sort of trolley wire in the old storeroom, through 
the book closet. At the proper time I’ll switch off 
the lights in the banquet room, open the two closet 
doors, and the skeleton will be revealed. We’ll 
be in hiding with the rest of the fellows, and we’ll 
pull the strings, the bones will do a song and 
dance, and the skeleton will slide down the sus- 
pended wire right toward the bunch of fellows in 
Snaith’s room.” 

“A sort of skeleton at the feast, eh?” 

“Exactly. Now come on. We’ll get grub and 
let the rest of our crowd in on the joke.” 

Jack and his chums (the latter having been told 
part of the joke) were too excited to make their 
usual good meal that night at supper, but they 
managed to conceal their impatience from Mar- 
tin, and soon left the dining hall. Doc. Snaith 
and several of his chums also left early, and, see- 
ing them depart, Jack winked at Nat. 

“They’re saving their appetites for Doc’s, 
spread. I hear he’s going to have wine and cigar- 
ettes,” said Jack. 

“You’re not going to squeal on him, are you?” 
asked Fred Kaler. 

“No, of course not, for it would mean dismissal 
for the lot of them if they were caught. But I 


18 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

fancy our arrangement will effectually break up 
the feast. Keep mum, everybody.” 

A little later, one by one, a number of choice 
spirits made their way quietly to Bony’s room. It 
Was necessary for them to go singly, so that Mar- 
tin would suspect nothing. Still, there was not so 
much risk as there would have been earlier in the 
term, for discipline was more or less relaxed near 
the closing day. 

“Well, are we all here?” asked Bony. 

“Guess so,” answered Jack. “Count noses, and 
see.” 

“I’ll do it,” volunteered Sam Chalmers, whereat 
he proceeded to tap each student lightly on the 
most prominent part of his face. 

“Here ! Let up ! Duplicating dubloons !” cried 
Nat Anderson. “Do you want to give me the nose 
bleed?” 

“That was only a love tap,” exclaimed Sam. 

“Well, this is a love-shove!” retorted Nat, and 
he gave Sam a push that sent him over Bony’s 
bed. 

“Soak ’em both, fellows!” cried Bob Movel, 
and, grabbing up the pillows he proceeded to do 
what Jack described as the “Othello” act — stiffling 
the indignant cries of Nat and Sam beneath the 
mass of feathers. Fred Kaler made a leap for 
the bed. 


THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST 19 


“Here, cut that out, or you’ll have the whole 
faculty in here,” ordered Bony, sharply. 

But the lads would not heed. Piled up on the 
bed Sam, Jack, Bob and Fred were in a seemingly 
inextricable mass. Arms and legs were flying 
about, and there was smothered laughter. 

“Oh, for cats’ sake, cheese it!” begged Bony, 
in despair. 

Fred Kaler rolled out of the conglomeration, 
upon the floor, with a thump. He sat up a trifle 
dazed, but immediately pulled out his mouth or- 
gan, and began playing softly: “Just Before the 
Battle, Mother.” 

“Oh, cut it out! Cut it out! Chop it off!” 
pleaded Bony. 

“Yes,” added Jack, getting up, and pulling Nat 
with him. “If we’re going to do anything to Doc. 
Snaith, it’s time we were at it.” 

Calm was restored once more, and then, seeing 
that they had all that they needed with them, the 
students crept softly out into the corridor, and, 
carrying the skeleton in their midst, while one 
went ahead to act as a scout, they made their way 
to the old refuse room, which, through a big 
closet, connected with the apartment of Doc. 
Snaith. 

“Easy now, fellows,” cautioned Bony. “Some 
of ’em are in there, and they are on the lookout 
for trouble.” 


20 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

This was true enough, for Snaith was violating 
the rules, by giving a spread in his room without 
permission, and it w«is necessary for him and his 
cronies to keep quiet over it, lest they be found 
out. This quietness on their part might lead to 
the discovery that something was going on behind 
the closet door, for it was impossible to carry out 
the scheme without making some noise. 

But Jack and his friends worked so quietly that 
no hint of their presence leaked out. The skele- 
ton was arranged on the long wire, and with well- 
oiled keys Bony unlocked the doors, so that, at 
the given signal, the weird figure of bones would 
slide forward, right up to the banquet table. 

“How about it?” asked Jack in a whisper. “Are 
you all ready Bony?” 

“Yes, all I have to do is to shut off the lights, 
and put the phosphorous on the bones.” 

“Well, daub it on now. I guess it will last un- 
til we get ready.” 

The fiery stuff was not to be applied until the 
last minute, as it had a tendency to evaporate or 
vaporize, and the conspirators wanted to get the 
full effect of its glowing properties. 

The bones were coated with it, and most un- 
earthly did they shimmer in the darkened room. 

“Gee, but that’s great!” murmured Nat Ander- 
son. “Horrified hoptoads ! It’s immense !” 

“Just keep some of those expressions for a safer 


THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST 21 


time,” urged Jack, in a whisper. “I guess they’re 
all in with Doc. now, Bony.” 

Bony, listening at the keyhole, confirmed this. 
From the room of the bully came confused sounds 
and whispers, and the subdued rattle of bottles 
and glasses. Then the unmistakable odor of cig- 
arette smoke could be detected. 

“I should think he’d be afraid Martin would 
smell that,” said Bob Movel. 

“He’s probably got all the windows open,” said 
Bony. “Well, we’ll let ’em get going good and 
strong, and then we’ll make ’em see things.” 

A quarter of an hour passed. The fun in the 
room of Snaith became more pronounced. 

“The spread is getting in its work,” explained 
Jack grimly. “I guess it’s about time, Bony. We 
don’t want to get caught ourselves. Better start.” 

“All right. I’ll sneak around and turn off the 
lights. There’s a special switch connecting with 
Snaith’s room, otherwise Martin would have cut 
the glims off long ago. I’ll douse ’em, however, 
and then you give me a chance to get back here 
before you spring the skeleton. You can open 
the doors and have all in readiness.” 

Bony went out softly to gain the corridor in 
front of Snaith’s room, to turn off the electrics, 
while Jack and his chums waited in the darkness, 
the gloom of which was dispelled by the phos- 
phorescent skeleton. 


22 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

The noise in the room where the feast was go- 
ing on became louder. Some one started to sing. 

“Here, cut that out!” ordered Snaith hoarsely. 
“Do you want to queer this racket?” 

“It’s all right,” was the somewhat thick re- 
sponse. “Open another bottle. I’m a sport, I 
am. 

“A hot sport,” commented Jack to his compan- 
ions. 

“Gimme a cigarette,” came another request. 

“We won’t go home until ” began a lad, 

lifting his voice in song. 

“ Will you be quiet?” begged Snaith. “I’ll put 
you all out if ” 

There came a general gasp of dismay from the 
unseen feasters. Then there were stealthy move- 
ments on the other side of the closet door. 

“Bony has doused the glims,” whispered Nat. 
“Open the door, Jack.” 

On the well-oiled hinges, the closet door swung 
back. To the frightened gazes of Snaith, and his 
guests, there was revealed, in the black void be- 
yond them, the glowing skeleton. 

There were several groans of dismay, and a 
scraping back of chairs over the floor. 

“Oh — oh !” faltered some one. “Oh ” 

“Shut up, you chumps! It’s only some of that 
Ranger crowd’s foolery!” snapped Snaith, an- 
grily. 


THE SKELETON AT THE FEAST 2V 


“Lemme go ! I want t’ get out a’ here,” mum- 
bled a frightened voice. “I — I ain’t never goin’ 
t’ drink any more ! Oh, where’s the door?” 

At this moment Bony came hurrying back. 

“Run it ahead,” he whispered, and Jack yanked 
the string that pulled forward the skeleton on the 
trolley wire. 

“Make her dance,” suggested Nat, and he and 
his chums hauled on the cords that set in motion 
the bony arms and legs of the glowing figure. 

Forward slid the skeleton, straight toward the 
bully and his cronies, who got up from the ban- 
quet board in such haste that they upset it. There 
was a crash of bottles and glasses. 

Jack pulled the string that opened and closed 
the skeleton’s jaws. They snapped viciously. The 
effect was ghastly. 

“Oh! Oh!” came in stiffled moans from the 
feasters. 

“Where’s that confounded door?” demanded 
one. 

“I — I guess it’s the cigarettes,” faltered an- 
other. 

“Turn on the lights!” begged a third. 

“Shut up !” ordered Snaith in a frenzy of fear. 
“You’ll have the whole school down on us.” 

Nearer and nearer came the skeleton. It was 
right at the threshold of Snaith’s room now, as 
far as it could go through the closet on the wire. 


24 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

The legs danced a jig. The arms flew about. Tfie 
fiery jaws snapped together. 

“Never! never again!” wailed a tearful voice. 
There was another crash of bottles and glasses. 

“Come on,” ordered some one. “I’ve found 
the door.” 

“Can’t you make a light, Snaith?” asked sev- 
eral. 

“No ! Get out if you want to ! I’m going to 
settle with Ranger,” was the bully’s reply. 

He lunged forward, as if to grab the skeleton. 
In the glow of the phosphorous Jack saw him, and 
pulled the figure back. The closet door was shut, 
and locked, on Jack’s side, just as Snaith threw 
himself against it with a crash. 

A moment later there was a rush in the corridor 
from his room, and, through the keyhole Bony 
could see the lights flash up. In their gleam stood 
Martin, Dr. Mead, and several of the faculty 
members. 

“Snaith is caught good and proper,” whispered 
Bony, as he straightened up. “Now it’s up to us 
to get back to our rooms, and replace the bony 
gentleman where he belongs. The skeleton at the 
feast did his duty most nobly.” 


CHAPTER III 

A CHANCE FOR A LONG CRUISE 

There was so much excitement in the corridor 
where Snaith and his cronies had been caught by 
the head of Washington Hall and his assistants, 
that the little noise made by Jack and his chums 
in removing the skeleton, and the wires, from the 
refuse-room passed unnoticed. Pausing in their 
work of clearing away the evidences of their prank 
our friends could hear Dr. Mead questioning 
Snaith. 

“What does this mean, sir? How dare you 
disobey the rules of this institution? How dare 
you? I believe some one has been smoking!” and 
Dr. Mead sniffed the air suspiciously. “Do you 
not smell smoke, Professor Gales?” he asked, 
burning to an assistant 

“I certainly do, Dr. Mead.” 

“And you, Professor Hall?” appealing to an- 
other teacher, whom Dr. Mead had summoned, 
when Martin informed him that something un- 
usual was going on in Snaith’s room. 

“I not only smell smoke, Dr. Mead, but I fear 
25 


26 JACK RANGER'S TREASURE BOX 

I also smell intoxicants,” answered Mr. Hall, who 
was a very strict temperance advocate. 

“Disgraceful!” exclaimed Dr. Mead. “This 
shall be looked into in the morning. To your 
rooms at once, young gentlemen. As for you, Mr. 
Snaith, you may come with me. This is a serious 
matter.” 

Snaith said nothing, for there was nothing he 
could say, and he knew it was best to keep silent. 
Nor did he dare speak of the joke played by Jack 
and his chums, for it would only reveal more 
clearly his own breach of the rules. 

Meanwhile, as Snaith’s recent guests filed to 
their rooms, Jack and his chums disposed of all 
evidences of the skeleton prank, and replaced in 
the laboratory closet the skeleton itself. Then, 
one by one, they congregated in Jack’s room, 
which he shared with Nat Anderson. 

“Talk about sport!” murmured Bob Movel. “It 
was like Belshazzar’s feast! Wow, how they did 
scatter!” 

“Let’s have a dance to celebrate our victory!” 
suggested Fred Kaler, producing a jewsharp. “I 
can play a two-step.” 

“Not to-night,” interrupted Jack, seriously. 
“We’d better lay low. We had our share of fun. 
No use running any risks.” 

“We’re under risk enough as it stands,” de- 
clared Bony. “Professor Socrat saw Jack and me 


A CHANCE FOR A LONG CRUISE 2 7 

carrying the skeleton, and Snaith is sure to squeal. 
Then there’ll be an inquiry, and ” 

“Leave it to me,” interrupted Jack. “I’ll fix it 
so Professor Socrat will forget that he ever met 
us.” 

“How?” inquired Nat. “Belzebub’s battle-ax, 
Jack! but you’ve set yourself a hard task. Socrat 
has a memory as long as the common law.” 

“That’s all right. You watch me,” went on 
Jack, with a mysterious air. 

Of course there was an inquiry the next morn- 
ing, but, to the surprise of Jack and his chums, 
Snaith said nothing about the skeleton. The look 
he gave our hero, however, did not augur well 
for what would happen afterward. But Jack only 
laughed. 

“I’ll get even with you,” muttered Snaith, as he 
passed Jack and Bony in the hall. They did not 
reply. 

“Say, what about Socrat?” asked Bony of his 
chum. “That thing is sure to come out, and if 
skeleton is mentioned the Frenchman will remem- 
ber that he saw us with it.” 

“Oh, don’t worry,” advised Jack. “I’ve got my 
plans all made. They’ll be ripe to-day.” 

As Bony feared, some of the crowd in Snaith’s 
room did speak of the glowing skeleton, at the 
investigation, but the references were so vague 
that little harm would have resulted, had it not 


28 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

been that the entire faculty, including the French 
and German instructors, sat in judgment on the 
culprits. Professor Socrat was all attention when 
the bony, blazing figure was mentioned. He arose 
to say something, but at that moment, Jack, who, 
with nearly all the other students, had been sum- 
moned to the inquiry, passed Socker, the janitor, a 
note. 

“Give that to Professor Socrat,” he said, and 
Socker, who had received more than one liberal 
tip from Jack, was only too glad to obey. The 
janitor, tiptoeing his way amid the members of the 
faculty, handed the French instructor the note. 
Professor Socrat at once forgot about the skele- 
ton, and read the missive. Then he got up quickly, 
and quietly left the room. 

A moment later Jack sent a second note to Pro- 
fessor Gerlach, the big German teacher, and, he, 
too, left the hall where the inquiry was going on. 

“There,” whispered Jack to Bony, “Pve 
switched him off, and no one else knows anything 
about the skeleton.” 

“But is that all there is to it? Won’t Socrat 
come back, and mention it to Dr. Mead?” 

“Nope,” answered Jack, chuckling. “You’ll 
soon learn why. But listen to what’s going on.” 

The inquiry was simple enough, and, luckily, no 
other students save those of the bully’s particular 
crowd were involved. Martin told how he had 


A CHANCE FOR A LONG CRUISE 29 

heard noises in Snaith’s room, and how he looked 
through the keyhole, and witnessed unseemly 
mirth. Then, while he was gone to summon Dr. 
Mead, and the members of the faculty, the crowd 
had burst out, as if in fright, and there was great 
confusion. 

“Yes, there is no need to go further into the 
disgraceful scene,” said Dr. Mead. “I saw suffi- 
cient for my purpose. As for this reference to a 
skeleton — it was probably due to the unmention- 
able habit of taking intoxicants, and smoking those 
vile cigarettes. The stench is in the entire school. 
It must be fumigated. Mr. Socker, you will at- 
tend to that.” 

“Yes, Dr. Mead,” answered the janitor. “I 
remember once, when I was at the battle of ” 

“That will do, Socker,” interrupted the head of 
the school. “Kindly attend to the fumigation,” 
and Socker, somewhat disappointed at not being 
able to tell a war story, left the room. 

“Yes, it’s all right about the skeleton, if Socrat 
doesn’t think to mention it,” said Bony, gloomily, 
for he was beginning to be a bit alarmed. 

“Don’t worry,” advised Jack. “It will be all 
right.” 

“If it was not the end of the term,” Dr. Mead 
was saying to the culprits, “I would suspend you 
all. As it is, I shall ask that Snaith’s parents with- 
draw him from the school. I am convinced that he 


3 o JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

was the ring-leader in this. We have had no such 
disgrace at Washington Hall since Jeremiah 
Chowden was dismissed.” 

The doctor referred to a student, a bitter enemy 
of Jack Ranger’s, who was dismissed some time 
previous, for a serious breach of the rules. 

Snaith glared at Jack and his chum, but he said 
nothing. Whatever he was, the bully was not a 
“squealer.” Perhaps he thought he could “get 
even” in some other manner. 

The inquiry was over, and the students and fac- 
ulty filed from the hall. Bony and his friends were 
anxious to know what Jack had written in the 
notes that sent Professors Gerlach and Socrat out 
in such haste. 

“You’ll soon see,” was our hero’s answer. “I 
guess they have received the packages now. Come 
on, and see how they take ’em.” 

He led the way to the office of the school where 
all mail was distributed. As he had hoped, Jack 
saw the two professors, who were such implacable 
enemies, standing in front of a desk, presided over 
by Martin, the monitor. Each professor was 
reading again the notes Jack had sent. As they 
were in typewriting they bore no evidence as to 
who had sent them. 

“Ha, dot iss ferry kind on der parts of some 
ones,” Professor Gerlach was muttering, in his 
deep, German voice, as he perused the note again. 


A CHANCE FOR A LONG CRUISE 31 

“I am to receive a history of Germany wrote by 
vun of der foremost authorities. Ach! Dot iss 
fine — goot! I shall read it mit pleasure, but I 
vould likes to know who sends it to me. It is se- 
cret, der note says, in recognition of my ability in 
standing up for my country. Ach! Der dear 
Vaterland ! Who vould not stand up for him ?” 

At that moment Professor Gerlach caught sight 
of his enemy, the Frenchman. Professor Socrat 
was also reading a note and, though the two glared 
at each other, they did not speak. They seldom 
did, except to quarrel, for M. Socrat held up the 
glories of France, and Mr. Gerlach insisted that 
there was no country like Germany, and that the 
French were a nation of barbarians. 

Professor Socrat read his note half aloud. 

“Et iss one surprisingness for me,” he mur- 
mured. “Zat some unknown admirer should send 
me one historee of La Belle France! Ah, I kees 
my hands to heem who sends me zat book!” and, 
in his enthusiasm the impressionable Frenchman 
pressed the note to his lips. “A history of my 
beloved country,” he went on, “written by ze 
foremost authority. Ah, zat iss grand ! noble ! I 
shall read it again and once again ! Ah ! ze his- 
tory of France! Ze grandest countree in ze 
world!” 

“Country of barbarians !” muttered the Ger- 
man, who had heard what his enemy had said. 


32 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Land where they eat frogs und snails! Ugh! 
Der only country is der Vaterland!” 

“Ha! Ha! Frogs an* ze snails!” exclaimed 
Professor Socrat, looking at the German. “True! 
we are of so delicate a nature zat we eat zem, but 
we do not eat pig-hog sausages, an’ ze black 
bread ! Ah ! Ze rough, uncouth Germans !” 

The two professors glared at each other, but 
disdained to hold further conversation. They ad- 
vanced to the desk, one at a time, and Martin 
handed them each a package that had been left for 
them, but by whom the monitor did not know. 
Eagerly the odd teachers tore off the wrappings, 
and their surprise and chagrin can be imagined 
when it is stated that the French professor re- 
ceived a copy of a work praising the Germans to 
the skies, while Professor Gerlach found himself 
gazing upon the pages of a book that told of the 
glories of the French nation. 

It was almost too much for them, and, in anger, 
they tossed the books aside, glared at each other, 
and hastened out, muttering unpleasant things 
about the respective nations, much to the delight 
of the watching boys. The professors remained 
on cool terms with each other for several days 
after that, for each one imagined the other had 
sent him the despised book. 

“There,” said Jack, to his chums, as they hur- 
ried away from the windows at the sight of Dr. 


A CHANCE FOR A LONG CRUISE 33 

Mead and the other teachers, “I guess that will 
keep Professor Socrat so busy thinking that he 
won’t even dream of the skeleton.” 

“Buzzing butterflies! That was great, Jack!” 
cried Nat. “How did you think of it?” 

“Oh, it was an inspiration. I knew if I could 
get those two going at each other our secret was 
safe. So I just wrote a note to each of them, tell- 
ing them that a friend was sending them a history 
of their beloved countries. That was true enough. 
I was the friend, only, somehow, I got the books 
mixed, and Socrat got Gerlach’s, and vice versa, as 
the Esquimaux say. Howsomever, it’s all right.” 

“All to the mustard,” agreed Bony. “You have 
saved our reputations, Jack.” 

“We didn’t have any to save,” answered our 
hero with a laugh. 

At that moment the progress of Jack and his 
chums across the campus toward the lecture hall, 
where they were soon to recite, was interrupted 
by a hail from a youth. He was a curious sort of 
lad, his face much freckled, and with a quiet, 
never-mind-what-happens-air about him. He was 
chewing gum, as he advanced, and, without remov- 
ing it from his mouth, he addressed Jack. 

“SamChalmerscallingyou,” he gave utterance 
to, all in one word. 

“Sam Chalmers is calling me?” repeated Jack, 

“Yepoverthere,” was the further reply. 


34 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Over there; eh?” went on Jack. “Say, Budge 
Rankin, don’t you ever get tired of chewing 
gum ?” 

“Notso’syoucouldnoticeit,” was the next con- 
glomeration. 

“Oh, well, we can’t notice it very much,” con- 
ceded Bony. “But what does Sam want?” 

“Idunno,” was Budge’s reply, and the queer 
lad, who lived in Denton, and for whom Jack had 
secured a place as assistant janitor at Washington 
Hall, turned aside. “He’scominow,” he added. 

“Oh, he’s coming now; is he?” repeated Jack. 
“Well, that’s good. Now he can speak for him- 
self,” and he looked to see Sam Chalmers hurrying 
toward him. Sam was out of breath from run- 
ning, and that was why his hail had not been 
heard by his chums. Budge Rankin, who was 
more of a chum with Jack and his friends, than 
he was a hired servant, had caught Sam’s faint 
call, and so had halted the boys, to whom Sam 
evidently wished to speak. 

“What’s up, Sam?” asked Jack, as the running 
lad caught up to them. “Has some one left you 
a million dollars; or is it a letter from your best 
girl?” 

“Great — news — fellows,” panted Sam. 

“What — kind — for — mercy’s — sakes ?” asked 
Jack, In mocking imitation of Sam’s labored tones. 


A CHANCE FOR A LONG CRUISE 35 

“Tell — you — in — a — minute. I — got — a letter 
— f rom — my — uncle ’ ’ 

“Well, tell us the news, and don’t beat all 
around the bush,” begged Bony. “Out with it!” 

“It’s in this — letter — just — came,” went on 
Sam, who was breathing more easily now. “He 
says he’s going to Europe.” 

“That’s no news,” spoke Jack. “He goes there 
every year,” for Sam’s uncle, William Chalmers, 
was known to be quite wealthy. 

“Wait until you hear the rest,” advised Sam, 
with a twinkle in his eyes. “My uncle is going to 
Europe, and he isn’t going to use his big gasolene 
cruising yacht Sea Bird this summer. He writes to 
say that I can have the use of her, if I wish. I can 
hire a crew, and take a party of my friends on a 
long cruise ! How’s that for news?” 

“Hurray!” yelled Bony Balmore, cracking his 
knuckles in double time. 

“Wow!” came from Bob Movel. 

“Slithering sea serpents!” ejaculated Nat. 

“Wait until I play ‘See, the Conquering Hero 
comes,’ fellows,” pleaded Fred Kaler, struggling 
to get his harmonica from his pocket. 

“A motor cruising yacht,” murmured Jack. 
“Great ! I say, Sam, are we included among your 
friends?” 

“You sure are,” declared the lucky nephew, 
warmly. “We will make up a party, and go for 


36 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

a long cruise. Along the New England Coast 
Lobster suppers and crab dinners. Smell the ocean 
breezes! Dash through the storms on the coast! 
Camp out! Be pirates! Sail the bounding main! 
Wow!” 

“Is it really true?” asked Jack, in some doubt. 

“True? Of course it’s true ! Here’s my uncle’s 
letter. I’m to have the yacht as soon as school 
closes, and it can’t close any too soon for me!” 
and Sam began dancing about, waving the letter 
over his head. We’ll all go, fellows, and have 
the time of our lives.” 

“Sure,” agreed Jack. “It certainly will be sport 
as is sport!” 

At that moment Socker the janitor approached 
the group of lads, with a letter in his hand. 

“Here’s a note for you, Mr. Ranger,” he said, 
handing Jack a missive. 

“From your girl?” asked Bony, with a poke in 
Jack’s ribs. 

“No, from dad. He’s gone out to the Pacific 
Coast on a trip. Thank’s Socker. Did you hear 
the news ? We’re all going to become pirates, and 
live on Sam’s uncle’s yacht!” 

“No? You don’t tell me. That reminds me 
of the time when I was in the war, and going 
down the Mississippi ” 

“Going down!” yelled Bob Movel, in imitation 


A CHANCE FOR A LONG CRUISE 37 

of an elevator starter. “Come on, fellows, I’ll 
stand treat for the sodas on the strength of Sam’s 
news. Come on, Jack!” 

“No, wait until I read this letter,” was the re- 
ply, and our hero eagerly tore open the envelope. 


CHAPTER IV 


THE TREASURE BOX 

Jack’s chums halted a short distance off, 
waiting until he had finished his perusal of the 
missive. They saw a look of surprise come over 
his face, and wondered if he had received bad 
news. But Jack’s exclamation a moment later re- 
assured them. 

“Hey, fellows ; great news !” he cried. 

“What kind?” asked Sam. 

“I’ve fallen heir to a treasure box!” 

“A treasure box?” repeated Nat. “Has Miss 
Mabel Pierce sent you a box of nuggets from the 
west?” 

“Not quite,” replied Jack. “Listen, I’ll read 
you part of dad’s letter. This is great! Im- 
mense !” 

Jack turned over several pages of the missive, 
until he came to the part referring to the treasure 
box, and read: 

“ ‘I am sending you, Jack, a small chest, or box, 
by express, and it has a somewhat curious history. 
It is said to be a treasure box, but what the treas- 
38 


THE TREASURE BOX 


39 


ure consists of I don’t know, for I haven’t opened 
it, as the chest is fastened with a secret lock, and I 
couldn’t get at the combination without destroying 
it. You and I will work over it when I get home, 
which will be soon. 

“ ‘The box and the contents were given to me 
by an aged Spaniard named Miguel Montez, 
whom I befriended out here just before he died. 
He said the box and treasure belonged to him, as 
he was the last of his race, all his relatives being 
dead, the last of his kin perishing in the Marti- 
nique earthquake. So, being, as he declared, the 
sole heir to the treasure, he believed he could do as 
he liked with it, for it was all his now. According- 
ly, he gave it to me in payment for what I did for 
him, though of course I didn’t want anything. 

“ ‘Montez said the box was used by members 
of his family to hold gold and silver ornaments 
and jewels during the frequent wars and raids of 
the early settlement days in California. I don’t 
know whether this is true or not. In fact I don’t 
know what is in the box, but it must contain some- 
thing, as it is very heavy. Anyhow, we’ll soon 
learn. I wish you would get it from the Denton 
express office, as soon as possible, put it in the 
bank safe deposit vault until I get home, and then 
we’ll have a try at the secret lock.’ 

“Well, fellows, what do you think of that for 


40 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

news?” asked Jack, as he put the letter in his 
pocket. “I guess little Jack is some pumpkins 
now, eh?” 

“Treasure box!” repeated Nat. “Suffering 
Simoleens I I wish I had one.” 

“Think there’ll be anything in it?” asked Bony. 

“Well, it’s worth taking a chance on,” replied 
Jack. “I wish school was over, so I could go to 
Denton and see it.” 

“Only four days more,” spoke Fred, playing 
softly on his mouth organ the tune: “How Sad 
This Parting.” 

“Yes, but four days — ” began Jack, and then, 
as if struck by some sudden thought, he pulled out 
his father’s letter, and looked at the date. Then 
he uttered an exclamation: 

“By Jove, fellows, there’s something wrong 
here !” 

“Wrong? How?” asked Sam. 

“Why, dad’s letter is dated two weeks ago, and 
here I only get it to-day. It shouldn’t have been 
more than a week coming from the coast — and 
the box — my treasure box ” 

“Well?” asked Nat, as Jack hesitated. 

“My treasure box was shipped the day before 
this letter was mailed, dad says. In that case it’s 
been in Denton some time. Wow! Lying there 
in the express office ! Maybe some one has opened 
it, and taken the treasure out! Maybe they’ve 


THE TREASURE BOX 


4i 


even walked off with the box ! Fellows, I’m going 
to leave for home at once, and claim my treas- 
ure!” and Jack, with a determined look on his 
face, wheeled around, and started for the dormi- 
tory building, where his room was located. Over 
his shoulder he flung back the words, like an echo 
to his chums : 

“Fm going to get ready to go back home !” 

“Hey!” called Sam Chalmers after him, “is 
that going to break up our yachting party?” 

“Oh, I almost forgot about that,” answered 
Jack, turning back. “No, indeed, Sam. Tell us 
more particulars. I guess Fve got time to hear 
’em, for I can’t get a train to Denton right away. 
Give us some more facts, Sam.” 

“I don’t know that there are any more, Jack.” 

‘“Oh, there must be. Where’s the yacht now?” 

“In New York. At the Erie basin, my uncle 
says in the letter.” 

“Is there a crew with it?” 

“No, I’ll have to arrange for one, my uncle 
states. The people in charge of the vessel will 
help me, though. I wonder whom we can get for 
a captain?” 

“Captain Reeger would be all right,” put in 
Nat. “The captain in charge of the Polly Ann , 
who once captured Jack and me,” he explained to 
the others. 

“Well, if he did a trick like that I shouldn’t 


42 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

think it would be safe to sail with him,” was Bob 
Movel’s opinion. 

“Oh, Captain Reeger is all right, and a good 
friend of ours now,” declared Jack. “He was 
forced to do what he did by that scoundrel La- 
vine. I’d trust Captain Reeger anywhere.” 

“So would I,” added Nat. 

“Then he may be the very person we need,” 
went on Sam. “I don’t know much about boats, 
especially gasolene cruisers. If Captain Reeger 
wants the job of piloting us along the New Eng- 
land coast for a summer of fun, he can have it. 
Uncle Bill is paying for it. He says he will stand 
all expenses.” 

“Well, how are we going to manage it?” asked 
Jack. “Shall we all meet in New York, on a 
certain date, and go aboard the Sea Bird?” 

“That would be a good plan,” answered Sam. 
“We will have to start from New York, so we 
might as well meet there. It will take some time 
to make all the arrangements, and so I think, as 
soon as school closes, I’ll go on ahead, and hire 
Captain Reeger, if I can locate him, and also ar- 
range about a crew. We won’t need more than 
two men besides the captain and cook.” 

“I’ll get Captain Reeger’s address for you,” 
said Jack. “I had a letter from him not long ago. 
But say, fellows, we ought to have some definite 
cruise mapped out. Come over to my rooms. I’ve 


THE TREASURE BOX 


43 


got a good chart of the New England coast, and 
you can lay out a plan, while I’m packing up to go 
after my treasure box. That will be better than 
going hap-hazard. Wow! But it makes me feel 
good to think about it! This is better than the 
phosphorescent skeleton !” 

“Chillified chow-chow ! I should say yes,” add- 
ed Nat, as they headed for Jack’s room. “By the 
way, I wonder what’s become of Snaith?” for, fol- 
lowing his sudden expulsion, the bully had left his 
room in the school. 

“Oh he’s — ” began Jack, and then he stopped, 
for, coming around the corner of the dormintory 
building where formerly he had had his apart- 
ment, was the lad in question. With him was 
Bert Mason, his most familiar crony. Snaith had 
heard Nat’s remark concerning him, and the hot 
blood mounted to his face. 

“So, you fellows aren’t satisfied with driving 
me out of school, but you talk about me behind 
my back!” snapped Snaith, with a blustering air. 
“I wish you’d mind your own business ! I guess I 
can come back to get my belongings without being 
insulted.” 

“Nobody insulted you,” spoke Jack quietly. 
“We were just wondering what had become of 
you, and ” 

“Who’s talking to yow, Ranger?” snarled the 
bully. “I’m not through with you yet. It was 


44 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

you who originated the trick with the skeleton, and 
so annoyed my guests that the whole affair was 
given away. It was all your fault, and I’m going 
to make you pay for it, too. I’m not done with 
you, yet, Jack Ranger.” 

“Look here!” cried Jack, hotly, taking a step 
forward, and confronting Snaith. “I’ve stood 
just about all I’m going to from you. Now either 
you make good, or stop talking about what you’re 
going to do. Get busy! if you want any satisfac- 
tion from me.” 

“I will!” growled Snaith, handing Mason a 
package he carried. 

“It was your own fault that you were caught,” 
went on Jack. “You had no business to have wine 
and cigarettes in your room, and you know it.” 

“Don’t you dictate to me!” almost yelled the 
bully. “I’ve stood all I’m going to from you. 
I’m going to have satisfaction,” and, before the 
others were aware of his intention, he had leaped 
forward and aimed a blow at Jack. 

The latter stepped back quickly, but not in time 
to avoid Snaith’s fist, which caught him lightly on 
the face. A dull red mark showed where it had 
landed, but the blow was a mere tap. 

“Take care !” cried Jack. “This is no place for 
an argument like that,” for they were on the 
campus, and all fights, of whatever kind, took 


THE TREASURE BOX 


45 


place on a favorite spot back of the lake boat- 
house, well away from observation from any of 
the faculty. 

“I don’t care anything about that!” cried 
Snaith. “I’m not a student here now, and I’ll 
fight where I please. Are you afraid of me?” 

“You know better than that,” spoke Jack 
quietly. 

“You are afraid! Why don’t you hit back?” 
and, once more the senseless bully rushed at Jack, 
and aimed a savage blow. This time our hero 
was ready, and he cleverly dodged it. He would 
have been more than human not to have returned 
it. Jack’s arm drew back, and his left fist shot 
forward. There was a dull sound as it landed on 
Snaith’s chin, and the bully went over backward, 
falling on the grass, after a vain effort to maintain 
his balance. 

“Wow! Good!” murmured Nat admiringly. 

Jack stood ready, and waiting. Snaith jumped 
to his feet, with a snarl of rage. 

“I’ll — I’ll knock you to pieces!” he spluttered. 

Again he rushed at Jack, with savage energy, 
but this very savageness defeated his efforts. His 
right-hander was easy to dodge, and once more 
Jack sent his antagonist to the earth with a left- 
hander, straight from the shoulder. This time 
there was more power behind the blow, and Snaith 


46 JACK RANGER'S TREASURE BOX 

lay prone for several seconds, before he slowly 
arose. 

“You’d better take him away, Mason,” said 
Nat, in a low voice to Snaith’s crony. “Ranger 
will pound him to jelly if this goes on. Besides, 
you know what it means to have a fight here. If 
he wants satisfaction we’ll meet at the boathouse 
later.” 

“All right — but I guess he’s had enough,” re- 
marked Mason, who was not a bad sort of a chap, 
save that he was too friendly with Snaith. “I’ll 
get him away if I can.” 

It was no very difficult task now to persuade the 
bully to give over his attempt to chastise Jack. He 
stood blubbering at our hero, who smilingly 
awaited another onslaught. But none was forth- 
coming. 

“You — you hit me with brass knuckles!” fal- 
tered Snaith. “Why don’t you fight fair?” 

“Dry up,” ordered Mason. “You don’t know 
what you’re saying, nor when you’ve had enough. 
Come on, before Dr. Mead sees you, and has you 
arrested. He’d do it for fighting here, since you 
are no longer a student.” 

“That’s all right, but — but I’ll get even — ” be- 
gan the fat lad, and then, at a sight of Jack’s 
flashing eyes, he did not finish the sentence. 

“Come on,” urged Mason again, and, linking 


THE TREASURE BOX 


47 


his arm in that of his crony’s, the two moved 
slowly off the campus. 

‘‘Snapping soup tureens!” cried Ned, “that was 
a beaut — while it lasted.” 

“It was long enough,” murmured Jack, as he 
swung into a stride alongside of Sam. “Let’s for- 
get it, and talk about our cruise.” 

“And your treasure box,” added Nat. 

“I’ll soon know about that,” went on Jack. 
“I’m going back home this afternoon.” 


CHAPTER V 

WHAT IS IN IT? 

“Going back home, Jack ?” echoed Sam in great 
dismay, as he trailed after his chum. 

“Before we celebrate the closing of Washing- 
ton Hall?” added Bony. 

“He doesn’t mean it,” put in Fred Kaler. 

“Yes, I do,” declared Jack. “Fellows, this may 
be a big thing, or it may not. At any rate,, I’m 
going on the assumption that there is some sort of 
a treasure in my box, and I’ve got to look after it. 
Through some unknown cause dad’s letter was 
delayed, and my treasure box has been lying in 
the Denton express office for a week.” 

“It’ll be safe there,” declared Nat. 

“Not on your life!” cried Jack energetically, if 
slangily. “That express office was robbed once, 
and I’m not going to take any chances. Me for 
Denton, and to get my treasure! I’m sure it is 
worth something, for dad isn’t the one to be 
fooled, and he is a good judge of character.” 

“Going home just when the best fun of all the 
year is on tap,” wailed Sam. “Why, we’ll have 
no end of sport! There’s Gerlach and Socrat to 
48 


WHAT IS IN IT? 


49 

indulge in their annual duel, under our super- 
vision ; and the midnight suppers, and burning the 
geometries, and singing around the old cannon, 
and — and — why, Jack, you simply can’t go home.” 

“Got to, Sam. Wish I hadn’t, but I’ve simply 
got to.” 

“Wire your aunts to go to the express office, 
and get the box,” suggested Bony. “Then it will 
be safe.” 

“If I sent my aunts a telegram, they’d all have 
nervous prostration,” declared Jack. “I wouldn’t 
dare. They’re as afraid of a message as they are 
of a black-bordered envelope. Once I wired them 
that I would be home a little ahead of time and 
when I got there I found they hadn’t opened the 
message, but they were all sitting around the table, 
looking at the yellow envelope, crying, and won- 
dering what undertaker they’d better hire to con- 
duct the funeral of yours truly. Nope — dasn’t da 
it, Bony.” 

“Well, then we’ve got to crowd some fun into 
to-night,” was Sam’s opinion. “Come on, fellows, 
we’ll have a song-fest in honor of Jack’s leaving.” 

“But what about the yachting trip ?” asked Nat. 
“We haven’t settled that, yet.” 

“I’ll attend to that,” declared Sam. “I’ll make 
all arrangements, and then I’ll come on to Den- 
ton and pick up you fellows. It’s on my way to 
New York, and if Bony, Fred and Bob decide to 


50 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

go, it’s just as handy for them to come to Denton, 
and we can all go together.” 

Jack and Nat packed up, and, early the next 
morning, to the sleepy good-byes of a number of 
their chums, they started for Denton, agreeing to 
meet Sam and the others a little later, and begin 
the yachting trip. 

“Well, I’m not sorry to get back to the old 
town,” spoke Nat, as they neared Denton. “I’ll 
be glad to see Fathead Farson, and some of the 
others of our bunch.” 

“Sure, and I’ll be glad when my box is safe in 
the bank,” declared Jack. 

“What do you think is in it?” 

“Well, it’s hard to say, and yet I have an idea 
that it will contain some old Spanish jewelry, or 
possibly some specimens of Indian workmanship. 
Then there may be some gold and silver orna- 
ments, that were kept in the Spaniard’s family for 
sentimental reasons. Then, too, the old chap of 
whom dad got the box says that though the treas- 
ure was in the family for generations, it was not 
all used.” 

“That doesn’t seem reasonable. For if Mon- 
tez was in need of money he’d use some of the 
treasure, instead of giving it away,” objected Nat. 

“Not necessarily. Perhaps it might have been 
jewels, or some sort of rare ornaments, that he 
couldn’t very well dispose of out on the coastr No, 


WHAT IS IN IT? 


5i 


I believe the treasure will be worth considerable, 
and I only wish dad was home now, so I could 
open the box, and see what it is.” 

“Maybe you can’t get the box open.” 

“Oh, there’ll be some way. If it was open once, 
it can be opened again. Besides, it will give us 
something to puzzle over. Hello, we’re at Rise- 
dale. Next stop is Denton. I’ll walk in and sur- 
prise my aunts. They don’t expect me so soon.” 

“Before you get the treasure box?” 

“No, I’m going to get that first. We’ll stop in 
the express office when we leave the station. I 
have the receipt that dad sent for the package. I 
only hope it’s safe.” 

“There’s Fathead Farson,” called Nat, as the 
train rolled into the Denton station. 

“Don’t bother with him now,” suggested Jack. 
“He’ll ask a dozen questions, and then the thing 
will be all over town. Keep mum about it. We’ll 
slip into the express office, get the box, take it to 
the bank, and then go to my house. Then I’ll 
have to wait until dad gets here.” 

It was with a feeling of no little uneasiness that 
Jack entered the express office, for he knew that to 
leave a valuable package around a railroad sta- 
tion, unclaimed for a week, was not condusive to 
its safe keeping. 

“Hello, Mr. Sneed,” he called to the agent, 
“have you a package for me lying around here?” 


52 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Why, if it isn’t Jack Ranger!” exclaimed Mr. 
Sneed, looking up from a pile of way bills. “Yes, 
I guess there’s some sort of a box here for you. 
Been here some time. I was wondering when 
you’d come for it. I meant to tell your aunts 
about it, but it slipped my mind.” 

“Where is it?” asked Jack, trying not to seem 
anxious. 

“Ha! Hum! Where did I put it?” asked the 
agent, looking around with a somewhat bewil- 
dered air. “I saw it yesterday — ” he paused and 
stared in different corners. 

Jack’s heart sank. Were his fears to be real- 
ized? 

“Oh, here it is, over here,” went on Mr. Sneed. 
“I knowed I laid it somewheres. It was so 
plagued heavy that I put it on top of a pile of old 
reports, to sort of straighten ’em out. Must be a 
lot of lead in that box, Jack. I see it comes from 
away out in California.” 

“Yes, dad sent it to me. Here’s the receipt. 
I’ll sign for it, and take it right along.”, 

“You’ll find it pretty middlin’ heavy. Ain’t got 
gold in it; has it, Jack?” and the agent laughed. 

“I wish it had,” and Jack laughed in his turn. 
“I guess Nat and I can manage it, though.” 

He walked over to the corner where a box, 
about two feet long, a foot wide, and a foot deep 
rested on a pile of old office reports, and way 


WHAT IS IN IT? 


53 


bills. It weighed them down considerably. As 
Jack was signing the receipt, having lifted one 
end of the box, and finding it quite heavy, a 
shadow darkened the door of the express office. 
Jack looked up, to see a short, dark-complexioned 
man, with a small black moustache, regarding him 
curiously. 

“Please excuse,” began the man, in oddly-ac- 
cented English, “but I much wish to know — a — 
when do express things come in from California?” 

“There’s the agent,” replied Jack, indicating 
Mr. Sneed. 

“Ah, pardon!” exclaimed the foreigner, with 
a courteous bow. “I wish to ask, when does ex- 
press stuff come here from California?” 

“Wa’al, it comes every day, when there is any,” 
answered Mr. Sneed. 

“No, please excuse, you do not understank I 
mean how much days — how long?” 

“Oh, how long does it take stuff to come from 
California? Wa’al, about seven days. Why, are 
you expectin’ a package?” 

“No, I only wish to make inquiry. I have no 
package,” and, with a murmured thanks, the man 
was gone. 

“Queer chap,” said Mr. Sneed. 

“Stranger in town, I guess,” remarked Jack. 
“Well, there is the receipt, Mr. Sneed, and Nat 


54 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

and I will take the box along. Dad wants us to 
put it safely away. Got to take it to the bank.” 

“Ha! Then it must contain gold,” declared 
the agent with a laugh. “But, say, why don’t you 
take off the outer case? That’ll make it lighter. 
It’s evidently inside some other box, for that outer 
one has been made by some amateur carpenter.” 

“I guess you’re right,” agreed Jack. “I think 
we will open it, Nat. Then we can carry it better. 
Lend us a hammer, Mr. Sneed.” 

“Sure.” 

In a short time Jack and his chum had removed 
the rough outer box. Inside that they found an- 
other, wrapped in heavy paper, and, by tearing 
off a corner Jack could get his first glimpse of 
his treasure box. It was made from some red 
wood, evidently mahogany or teak, for it was very 
hard and dense. 

“It’s got handles on,” said Nat, discovering 
them through the paper covering. 

“Good. Now we’ll hustle it right down to the 
bank, and then I’ll go kiss my aunts, and wire dad 
that I have the box. Say, it’s heavy enough, as it 
is,” and Jack tugged at the case. 

“Yes, it might contain gold after all,” observed 
Nat. As he spoke he looked up. Gazing in on 
the two lads, who stood with the box between 
them, was the foreigner who had previously made 
the inquiry about the length of time it took stuff 


WHAT IS IN IT? 


55 


to come from the Pacific coast. He had heard 
what Nat had said about gold, and Jack fancied 
he could detect a gleam in the man’s dark eyes. 
But, a moment later the man had slipped away. 

“Humph! There’s that fellow again,” said 
Jack. “He seems very anxious about something.” 

“Hope it isn’t you and your treasure box,” ex- 
claimed Nat. 

“Not so loud,” cautioned Jack. “But come on, 
let’s go to the bank. Guess I’ll hire a carriage. 
This is too heavy to lug.” 

“What in the world can be in it?” ventured 
Nat. 

“Give it up — for the present, anyhow. Come 
on. 

“Say, if you fellers are going to the bank, you’d 
better git a move on,” advised Mr. Sneed. “It’s 
five minutes of three now, and they close at three.” 

“Great Scott!” cried Jack, in some dismay. 
“That’s so. We can never make it, Nat.” 

“Hifaluting hoptoads! Not unless we got an 
auto,” declared the other. 

“There’s not one around,” replied Jack, look- 
ing along the station driveway. We never can 
get to the bank on time.” 

“Can’t you take it to your house, over night, 
Jack?” 

“If I did, and my aunts imagined, as they 
would, that there was treasure in it, they’d never 


56 JACK RANGER’S 'TREASURE BOX 

sleep a wink all night, for fear of burglars. No, 
I couldn’t do that. Besides, dad was particular 
to have it locked up as soon as I got it, and there’s 
no place to lock it up safely in our house.” 

“It would be as safe in your house as it was 
here in the express office.” 

“Well, not exactly, for there is some one on 
duty here night and day. I can’t get it to the 
bank, I can’t take it home, I can’t leave it here — ” 
Jack paused, in a quandary. “I know what I’ll 
do!” he exclaimed. “I’ll take it to Judge Ben- 
nett’s new office.” 

“Judge Bennett?” inquired his chum. 

“Yes, he’s our family lawyer, and he’s handled 
our affairs ever since I was a baby. He has a big, 
fireproof safe in his new place, and my treasure 
box will be all right there over night. That’s 
where we’ll take it. Catch hold, Nat. It isn’t 
far to his office.” 

Pleased with this solution of the difficulty, Jack’s 
heart was lighter. Carrying the heavy box by the 
handles between them, he and Nat left the depot, 
and bent their steps toward Judge Bennett’s office. 
They did not notice that, hiding in the shadow of 
the station, was the dark, foreign-looking man 
who had inquired about express packages. His 
black, beady eyes followed the boys, as they 
walked down the street, and, when they were far 


WHAT IS IN IT? 57 

enough off so that they would not observe him, he 
came out of the shadow. 

“Ha!” he exclaimed, in Spanish, under his 
breath. “I think that is the package I am looking 
for. At last I have found the Fernandez box!” 

All unconscious of the eager eyes watching them 
Nat and Jack hurried down the street. 


CHAPTER VI 

CALEB HERKIMER IS STARTLED 

‘‘Say, this box is getting heavy,” remarked Nat, 
as he and Jack neared Judge Bennett’s office. “I 
guess it must contain something of value, after all. 
Maybe pig iron, or sheet lead.” 

“Quit your knocking,” answered his chum. 
“You wait. I’ll give you fellows a good shore 
dinner when we’re off on our cruise, on the 
strength of my treasure box, and then we’ll see 
who the joke is on. But step lively. We’re almost 
there.” 

They changed hands, for the box seemed to in- 
crease in weight at every step, and soon they were 
ascending the stairs leading to Judge Bennett’s 
office. To their relief they met neither Fathead 
Farson, nor any of their acquaintances, so they 
were not asked embarrassing questions. 

The two boys set their burden down at the head 
of the steep flight of stairs, to get their breath, 
and, after waiting a moment, picked up the box 
again, and started down the long hall toward the 
entrance to the Judge’s office. 

Judge Bennett, the principal lawyer of Den- 
58 


CALEB HERKIMER IS STARTLED 59 

ton, was, as Jack had said, familiar with the 
affairs of the Ranger family since our hero could 
remember. He had been partly instrumental in 
arranging the western matter, so that Mr. Ranger 
could safely return to the east, and Jack’s three 
maiden aunts never took any important step 
without consulting Judge Bennett. So it was nat- 
ural that Jack, when he found that it was impos- 
sible to leave his treasure box in a bank vault, 
should turn to his own and his father’s friend. 

“I hope we find him in,” remarked Jack, as he 
motioned for Nat again to lift his end of the box. 
“I’d hate to have to cart this around much far- 
ther.” 

“Oh, I guess he’ll be in, it’s early yet — for law- 
yers,” and Nat took hold of the handle. 

The building in which the new office of Judge 
Bennett was located was over the hardware store 
of Mr. James Squire, and there were several other 
offices in the same structure, all reached by a com- 
mon stairway, the various apartments opening off 
a single long hall, or corridor. There was a real 
estate office, a dentist’s parlor, and a barber shop, 
all on the one floor. The offices occupied by Judge 
Bennett were at the far end of the hall, and con- 
sisted of three rooms. First, the outer, or wait- 
ing room, then a slightly larger one, used by Mr. 
Caleb Herkimer, the judge’s private secretary 
and clerk, and then came a large room, where the 


6o JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

judge had his private office. Though called a 
“Judge,” Mr. Bennett was no longer on the bench, 
but devoted his time to private practice. 

I have thought it best to describe thus particu- 
larly the judge’s office, in view of what happened 
afterward, so that you might more readily under- 
stand the situation. 

Down the long hall walked Jack and Nat, their 
feet making no sound, for they wore rubber-soled 
tennis shoes, that being a fad affected by the Wash- 
ington Hall students that year. Jack and his chum 
had donned theirs when they left that morning, 
and they found them very comfortable to travel 
in. Thus, almost noiselessly, they approached the 
office of Mr. Bennett, and, neither of them spoke, 
for they were somewhat out of breath from their 
hurried trip from the station, carrying the heavy 
box. 

Jack, without knocking, opened the outer door, 
and, followed by Nat, advanced into the middle 
of the apartment. 

A curious sight met Jack’s eyes. He could see 
right through the next two rooms, into the judge’s 
private office, and, instead of the genial face of 
his elderly friend, he was confronted by the some- 
what smirking and sneaking gaze of Mr. Caleb 
Herkimer, the confidential clerk. Mr. Herkimer 
was bending over the opened desk of Judge Ben- 
nett, and was sorting a number of legal papers, 



HA! WHAT— WHO— WHAT DO YOU WANT?” FAIRLY 
SNARLED MR. HERKIMER. 


Jam Ranger's Treasure Box 


Page 61 






























CALEB HERKIMER IS STARTLED 61 


which, as soon as he caught sight of the two lads,, 
he thrust into a pigeon hole, and then he closed 
down the rolling cover of the desk with a crash. 

u Ha ! What — who — what do you want?” fair- 
ly snarled Mr. Herkimer. “Coming in this way 
— what does it mean? Don’t you know you should 
have knocked? Was that door unlocked? I was 
sure I locked it ” 

He paused in some confusion. His hands were 
trembling, and Jack saw him furtively slip some 
papers into his pocket. 

“What do you mean — ?” went on the clerk, and 
then, as he realized that he was taking the wrong 
course, or, perhaps, recognizing who his visitors 
were, he added: 

“Oh, it’s you, Jack Ranger, and Nat Anderson. 
I didn’t know you at first. You surprised me, 
coming in so suddenly. I thought I had locked the 
door, as I was going over some papers in an im- 
portant case, and I didn’t want to be disturbed. 
Yes, you surprised me — coming in so suddenly,” 
and Mr. Herkimer glanced at the judge’s desk, as 
if to make sure it was closed, and his shifty eyes 
roved about the room, as if seeking to learn 
whether he had dropped any papers in his hurried 
move. Then he looked at Nat and Jack. 

“You came in so suddenly — so quietly — ” he 
went on, aimlessly. 

“Yes,” spoke Jack, the first word he had uttered 


6 2 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

since he had entered. “We have rubber-soled 
shoes on. I forgot that we didn’t make any noise. 
I’m sorry we disturbed you, Mr. Herkimer, but 
you see I’m in the habit of entering without knock- 
ing ” 

“Oh, that’s all right. That’s all right,” the 
clerk hastened to say. “No harm done, I assure 
you. Only — you — you startled and — surprised 
me,” and he seemed to get the words out with a 
jerk. 

“I came to see Judge Bennett,” went on Jack. 
“I have something which I wish to leave with him 
over night — in his safe, as the banks are closed. 
Is he ” 

“Yes, the judge is out,” went on Mr. Herki- 
mer. 

“Why, we only wanted to leave this box with 
him,” said Jack. “I wish he’d put it in the safe, 
over night. It contains ” 

“It’s Jack Ranger’s treasure box!” interrupted 
Nat with a laugh, and, the instant he had spoken 
he regretted the words, for there was a curious, 
crafty gleam in the eyes of Caleb Herkimer, and 
his lean, bony hands seemed to twitch nervously. 

“We don’t know whether it’s treasure or not,” 
exclaimed Jack, with just the trace of reproof to- 
ward Nat. “It comes from my father, out west, 
and he directed me to put it in a bank vault. As 
the bank was closed when we started to take it 


CALEB HERKIMER IS STARTLED 63 


there, I thought the judge’s safe would be a good 
place for it over night.” 

“No place better!” interrupted Mr. Herkimer 
with rather a nervous laugh. “It will be as secure 
there, Jack, as in the bank. I’ll lock it up in the 
judge’s safe for you, with pleasure. I have the 
combination. He will be back in the morning, and 
then you can claim it.” 

He was standing on the threshold of the middle 
room — his own particular apartment — and Nat 
and Jack were in the outer office. Mr. Herkimer 
advanced, and picked up the box that the two lads 
had set down. He slipped it into a vacant space 
in the big, roomy safe. 

“There,” said Mr. Herkimer, as he closed the 
heavy steel doors and turned the dial. “The 
treasure box is safe, now,” and he laughed at his 
little joke. 

“If the judge gets here before I do in the morn- 
ing,” said Jack, “will you please explain matters 
to him?” 

“Certainly,” agreed Mr. Herkimer. “But he 
is not likely to be here early. But wait, I will set 
the time lock. Now, the safe cannot be opened 
until nine o’clock to-morrow morning, and, if you 
wish, you may be here at that time, and take out 
your treasure box yourself,” and, suiting the ac- 
tion to the word, he shifted the lever of the time 
lock on the massive safe. 


64 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Well, I’ll sleep better than if that box was in 
the house, and so will my aunts,” remarked Jack. 
“Much obliged, Mr. Herkimer. Come on, Nat, 
we’ll be going.” 

As Jack and Nat left the building, where the 
treasure box now reposed, they nearly collided 
with a small, dark man, who turned quickly aside, 
and murmured an apology. He was a man with 
a small black moustache, and he spoke with a for- 
eign accent. 

“Did you notice him?” asked Nat, as he and 
his chum passed down the street. 

“Not particularly — why?” 

“He was the fellow who was at the express 
office.” 

“Well, what of it?” 

“Oh nothing, I guess.” But if Nat and Jack 
had heard what the small, dark man muttered as 
they passed on, they would not have thought it 
was “nothing.” 


CHAPTER VII 

FUN WITH FATHEAD FARSON 

“Come on over to-night,” invited Jack, as he 
and his chum parted at a street corner, Nat to go 
to his home, and Jack to the residence of his three 
aunts. “We’ll go out and do the town — see some 
of the fellows, and have some fun.” 

“Sure, I’ll be on hand. So long!” 

“So long!” 

Jack, with his characteristic energy, fairly burst 
in upon his aunts. They were in the sitting room, 
where they spent part of every afternoon, and 
they must have thought a miniature cyclone had 
broken loose when their nephew entered. 

“Hello, Aunt Angelina ! How are you, Aunt 
Josephine? Give us a kiss, Aunt Mary!” and 
the lad rushed first from one of the dear old ladies 
to the other, leaving a kiss and a hug with each, 
and also sundry other rememberances, such as 
ruffled collars, disarranged cuffs, tousled hair, 
scattered hairpins, and crushed dresses. 

“Why, Jack Has anything happened?” gasped 
Aunt Mary. 


65 


66 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Did the school burn down?” Aunt Josephine 
wanted to know. 

“Are you ill, Jack?” demanded Aunt Angelina. 

“Bless and save us! Why are you home so 
soon, when school doesn’t close for three days 
yet?” asked Aunt Mary. 

“Tell you all later,” was Jack’s breathless re- 
ply. “Just now I’m as hungry as two little bears 
and a big one. Is there anything in the house to 
eat? Have you heard from dad? I have. My! 
but it’s good to get home ! What’s in the pantry? 
I want some of your cookies, Aunt Mary. Any 
jam left, Aunt Angelina? How about the pickles, 
Aunt Josephine? I’ll have to kiss you all over 
again, for I promised Nat Anderson I would. 
Here goes!” and he made a rush. 

“Don’t! Don’t!” pleaded Aunt Mary. “You 
can have anything you want, Jack, but I’ve just 
got my hair so it stays up, and you’ll tumble it all 
down, and we expect the minister to tea.” 

“The minister to tea! Hopping hymn books! 
as Nat would say. Then I’m going to clear out. 
Give me something to eat in the kitchen, and I’ll 
go over to Nat’s house.” 

“Jack!” remonstrated Aunt Mary. 

“Jack Ranger!” pleaded Aunt Josephine. 

“Jack Donnith Ranger!” gasped Aunt Ange- 
lina, giving our hero his complete and seldom- 
used name. 


YUN WITH FATHEAD FARSON 67 


“All right! I’ll be good. I’ll stay and try to 
look pious, though it’s so long since I’ve talked 
with our minister that I’ll get all twisted. But 
I’d do anything for you, aunties. Guess I’ll kiss 
you all again!” 

There was a hurried retreat to the hall on the 
part of the elderly ladies, and they would not re- 
turn until Jack promised to behave. Then, by 
degrees, he told them the reasons why he had 
come back from school a little ahead of time. 

“Fancy, a treasure box! A treasure box in the 
family!” exclaimed Aunt Angelina. “Oh, Jack, 
tell us all about it.” 

Jack did, to the best of his ability, but it was 
not much that could be said on the subject, until 
the box was opened. 

“But don’t you think Mr. Herkimer acted 
rather funny, Jack?” asked Aunt Josephine, when 
our hero had told of how he and Nat had sur- 
prised the clerk. 

“Well, it did seem so, at first, and yet perhaps 
he was working over the papers in some important 
case, and when we went in so quietly it may have 
alarmed him. He evidently thought he had locked 
the outer door, but he forgot it.” 

“Queer he should be puttering over papers on 
the judge’s desk,” commented Miss Mary. “The 
judge is very particular about his desk. I remem- 
ber once, several years ago, when I was in his 


68 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

office, and Caleb Herkimer was then only a mere 
boy, and had just gone to work for Mr. Bennett, 
that the judge told him never, under any circum- 
stances, to touch anything on his desk.” 

“Well, he certainly was rumpling up the papers 
in great shape this afternoon,” declared Jack. 
“He took some out, too, or I’m mistaken. Well, 
‘when the cat’s away the mice will have pumpkin 
pie for supper,’ as the book says. Speaking of 
pie, do I get any?” 

“Oh, Angelina, we must hurry tea!” exclaimed 
Aunt Josephine. “The minister will be here be- 
fore we know it. Jack, dear, do behave your- 
self, won’t you?” 

“I will if you’ll give me a kiss, Aunt Jo.” 

“Oh, Jack, will you ever get over your foolish 
ways?” sighed his aunt, but, no little pleased at 
his request, she submitted to his caress. Then 
the other aunts had to undergo the ordeal, which 
was not such a terrible one after all, to them, I 
guess. Then they hurried with supper, while Jack 
read another letter from his father that had been 
sent to Denton for him, and was awaiting him 
there. In this Mr. Ranger said he would arrive 
within a day or two. 

“And then we’ll solve the mystery of the treas- 
ure box,” thought Jack. 

True to his promise, Jack was a credit to his 
aunts when the minister arrived to partake of sup- 


FUN WITH FATHEAD FARSON 69 


per, and, if our hero’s conversation was not ex- 
actly edifying, being mostly about baseball and 
school sports, the minister seemed to like it, and 
declared to the aunts, later, that Jack was a lad 
after his own heart, whereat the hearts of the 
three maiden ladies grew warm with pleasure. 

It was not long after the meal that Jack, who 
was sitting in the parlor, helping to entertain the 
reverend gentleman, with Aunt Angelina, while 
her sisters washed the dishes, suddenly jumped up, 
on hearing a whistle outside. 

“There’s Nat,” he remarked. “Guess I’ll go 
out for a while, Aunt Angelina.” 

“Nat? Is that Nat Anderson?” asked the min- 
ister; “your chum of whom you have spoken? I 
should like to meet him. Bring him in.” 

“Yes, do,” added Aunt Angelina. 

“I — er — I don’t think — Nat’s awful bashful,” 
stammered Jack, for he knew Nat would never 
forgive him, if he led him into such a dilemma as 
that represented by three elderly ladies, and a 
minister. “I — I guess I’d better go out to him,” 
went on Jack, “and if I ca'n get him to come in I 
will,” and, not pausing for any change in the pro- 
gram, Jack hurried out and joined Nat, who was 
wondering what was keeping his chum indoors on 
such a fine evening. 

“You had a narrow escape,” was Jack’s com- 
ment. 


70 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“How’s that?” 

“Minister wanted to meet you. I just managed 
to skip out. I told ’em I’d bring you inif I could.” 

“Wow! Come on, let’s run!” exclaimed Nat, 
and the two, not from any fear of evil in their 
hearts, but from an inborn and perhaps unreason* 
able prejudice toward anything that savored of 
sanctimoniousness, fled down the street. 

“Where’ll we go?” asked Jack. 

“Oh, down by the post-office. There’ll be some 
of the fellows there.” 

“All right,” and Jack slowed down his pace to 
a walk. A little later, as he turned up a short 
street, which was not in the direct way to the post- 
office, Nat asked. 

“Where are you going?” 

“Oh, I thought I’d walk past Judge Bennett’s 
office.” 

“What for? Want to see if your treasure box 
is there?” 

Jack laughed, a bit uneasily. 

“Well, perhaps it’s foolish of me,” he said, 
“but I have a nervous feeling about that box, Nat. 
To tell you the truth, I didn’t like the way Caleb 
Herkimer acted. It may have been all right, but 
— I wonder if he could have been drinking?” 

“There isn’t a more strictly temperance man in 
town.” 

“That’s what I thought. Still, he acted mighty 


FUN WITH FATHEAD FARSON 71 

queer. Maybe he was worried over some law 
case. Anyhow, we saw him lock the safe, and put 
the time catch on. Guess I’m just nervous, that’s 
all.” 

By this time they were in front of the judge’s 
office. The entire building was dark, save for a 
light at the lower entrance of the stairs, and one 
in the dentist’s office, where he could be seen mov- 
ing about behind the sash curtains. 

“Your treasure is all right — the judge’s office 
is as dark as a pocket, and the building is still 
there,” remarked Nat. 

“That’s more than you can say for that fel- 
low’s tooth,” added Jack, with a grim chuckle, 
for at that moment there was a yell from the 
opened window of the dentist’s office, and, from 
the shadow-pictures on the curtain, it was evident 
that some one had just had a tooth pulled. The 
two lads walked on, our hero somewhat easier in 
his mind. 

“If there isn’t Fathead Farson!” suddenly ex- 
claimed Jack a little later as he observed a jelly- 
faced, indolent, wall-eyed lad, who was a sort of 
lazy town character. “How are you, Fathead?” 

“Please don’t call me Fathead,” pleaded the 
lad. “My name is Archie.” 

“Oh, very well, Archibald — where art thou, 
Archibald?” asked Nat mockingly. 


72 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“No, not Archibald — just Archie,” begged the 
lad, who was sensitive about his name. 

“All right, Archie,” agreed Jack, with a wink 
at Nat. “Won’t you come and have some ice- 
cream soda?” and he nudged his chum. 

“Sure, come ahead,” urged Nat, knowing there 
was a joke in it somewhere, and willing to assist 
Jack in carrying it out. 

“Honest?” demanded the fat lad, as if in doubt, 
and when assured that the invitation was genuine, 
Fathead followed our two friends down the street. 

“What flavor, Archie?” inquired Jack, when 
the three were seated on the little stools in front 
of the marble counter. 

“I’ll have pineapple.” 

“Make it double strength for Mr. Farson,” said 
Jack to the drug clerk, with a wink. “And you 
want it good and sweet, don’t you, Archie?” 

“Oh, yes, as sweet as you can make it!” ex- 
claimed the wall-eyed lad. Jack and Nat gave 
their orders, and soon the soda was set before 
them. 

“Take your cues from me now, Nat,” whis- 
pered Jack to his chum. “Play into my hands, 
and we’ll give Fathead a scare. He needs one.” 

“Sure,” agreed Nat. The drug store contained 
no one but the clerks and the three lads at this 
time. Jack, after finishing his soda, waited until 
Fathead had drained the last dregs from his glass. 


FUN WITH FATHEAD FARSON 73 

Then, picking up Fathead’s tumbler in its nickeled 
holder, smelled of it. 

“Why — why!” he exclaimed in simulated 
horror. 

“What’s the matter?” asked Nat eagerly. 

“This — this soda !” went on Jack, with a tragic 
air. “I wonder how that poison got into it?” 

“Poison?” gasped Archie, with his face grow- 
ing pale. He placed his hands over his stomach. 
“Poison?” 

“Poison?” queried Nat. 

“Just as sure as you’re a foot high!” went on 
Jack, handing his chum the glass. “Smell! That 
clerk must have put in prussic acid by mistake! 
Can’t you smell it, Nat — just like peach pits, you 
know?” 

“It certainly is prussic acid,” agreed Nat, after 
several strong sniffs of the empty glass. “A terri- 
bly powerful dose, too. Oh, this is awful!” 

“Oh, am I going to die?” wailed Fathead, look- 
ing for a soft spot whereon to fall upon the floor. 

“Prussic acid is the deadliest drug known,” went 
on Jack solemnly. “I don’t see how that clerk 
made the mistake. Hey!” he called to the young 
soda dispenser, at the same time winking at him, 
“how does it come that you put prussic acid in 
Archie’s soda?” 

“I — I didn’t mean to,” declared the clerk, enter- 


74 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

mg into the joke. “It was a mistake. I — I 
hope ” 

“Get him an antidote at once !” thundered Jack. 
“Castor oil is good; isn’t it?” 

“Best thing in the world,” added Nat. 

“Oh, I never can take castor oil!” cried Fat- 
head. “Never!” 

“Then it’s all up with him,” went on Jack, sol- 
emnly. “Do you see the purple patches beginning 
to come out on him?” 

“Sure. All over his face,” answered Nat, pre- 
tending to look closely. 

“He does look bad,” agreed the drug clerk, and 
that was the truth, for Fathead was anything but 
a beauty. 

“Oh! Oh!” wailed the unpopular lad, writh- 
ing about. “Send for a doctor. Oh ! I’ve got such 
a pain! I’m burning up inside! I thought that 
soda tasted queer!” 

“That’s the way prussic acid always works,” 
declared Jack. “Give him some castor oil — 
quick!” 

“I can’t — I can’t take it!” sobbed Fathead. “It 
tastes too bad!” 

“You must!” insisted Nat. “Come on, fellows, 
we’ll have to pour it down him. It’s the only 
thing that will save him.” 

“And it must be swallowed pure — nothing in 
it to take away the taste,” insisted Jack. 


FUN WITH FATHEAD FARSON 


75 


“Oh! Oh! I can’t bear even the smell of it!” 
cried the fat lad. “Isn’t there something else just 
as good?” 

“Nothing but castor oil for prussic acid,” de- 
clared the clerk, and amid the ill-concealed laugh- 
ter of his fellows, Nat and Jack, a liberal dose of 
the compound was administered to Fathead. He 
managed to get it down, but he felt worse than 
ever. 

“Oh! Oh!” he moaned. “I’ll sue somebody 
for this if I die.” 

“There’s no such danger,” murmured Jack. 
“Think he’d better have a little more oil, Jim?” 
this to the clerk. 

‘“Well, a little more would make it sure.” 

“Oh, I can’t take another drop !” fairly yelled 
the victim. 

“Then hurry home, and stay in bed for two 
days, and I guess you’ll be well,” said Jack. 
“Hurry, Fathead!” 

With much groaning and tribulation the wall- 
eyed lad hurried out of the store, and the last 
they saw of him he was legging it down the street 
at a good pace. 

“I guess it will be some time before he speaks 
to us again,” concluded Jack, and he was right. 
Fathead learned later of the trick that had been 
played on him, and he vowed vengeance on Jack 


76 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

and Nat, but it was a long while before his chance 
came. 

Leaving the drug store, Jack and Nat, soon 
afterward met a number of their friends, and, 
as the evening was warm, our hero proposed that 
they go to a nearby ice-cream parlor and cool off. 
The suggestion was at once carried unanimously. 
Jack and his friends were soon occupying a num- 
ber of tables, and keeping the girl waitresses busy 
serving the frozen confection. As our hero was 
paying the checks at the desk, preparatory to go- 
ing out, he dropped a coin. Stooping to pick it 
up, he brushed against a gentleman and lady who 
were just entering the place. Murmuring an apol- 
ogy, Jack stepped to one side, and brought up 
against Nat, who was close beside him. 

As he did so he had a glimpse of the new- 
comers, and, to his surprise he beheld the same 
dark foreigner who had made the inquiries at the 
express office, and who, later, had been met with 
outside Judge Bennett’s office. But it was not 
the man who held Jack’s attention so much as did 
the face of the woman — or, rather, girl — who was 
with him. Jack had one look into her eyes, black 
as coals, and he felt as if they went right through 
him. For an instant the two gazed at each other, 
then a deep glow of red suffused the olive-tinted 
cheeks of the girl, whose beauty was of the Span- 
ish type. She murmured something to the man 


FUN WITH FATHEAD FARSON 


77 


at her side, and he replied in Spanish, shooting 
a keen glance at Jack. A moment later they 
had passed into the rear room, where the ice- 
cream tables were, and Jack and his friends went 
out. 

“Gee, she was a beauty!” exclaimed Russell 
Mortimer, one of the boys, in earnest but respect- 
ful admiration. 

“I should say yes,” added Nat. “But that fel- 
low looked fierce enough to stick a knife into you, 
if you looked at her.” 

“She looked at Jack, all right,” observed Frank 
Anson. 

“How about it, Jack?” asked Nat, with a 
nudge. 

“Oh, cut it out,” replied Jack, with a little 
laugh. Nevertheless it was some time before he 
forgot the look the black-eyed girl had given him. 


CHAPTER VIII 

THE TREASURE BOX IS GONE 

Jack Ranger was up early the next morning. 
In fact, he was never one to lie long abed, but, on 
this occasion, he had a special reason for arising a 
little ahead of his usual time. He planned to get 
his treasure box from the judge’s office, and take 
it to the bank vault. 

He had two reasons for doing this, aside from 
the main one that his father had requested him 
to do so. He wanted to have a look at the pecu- 
liar lock, or fastening, which he had not had a 
chance to examine the day previous. And, though 
he did not admit this to himself in so many words, 
he was a bit anxious about the security of the box. 
He knew the safe in the judge’s room was burglar 
proof, and he knew the building had not burned 
in the night, or he would have heard of it. But 
he could not get out of his mind the odd actions 
of Caleb Herkimer. 

He called for Nat, before his chum had yet 
had his breakfast, and explained his intentions. 

“There’s no good in going to the judge’s office 
now, Jack,” said Nat, yawning, and stretching. 

78 


THE TREASURE BOX IS GONE 


79 


44 Why not?” 

‘‘Because the time lock is set for nine o’clock, 
and the safe can’t be opened until then. It’s only 
half-past seven now. Don’t be in such a rush. 
Wait until I eat, and I’ll hit the trail with you. I 
was going fishing to-day. Come along?” 

“Sure, after I attend to the box.” 

It seemed as if nine o’clock would never come, 
and when the clock hands pointed to eight-thirty, 
Jack, who with Nat was sitting on the latter’s front 
porch, said: 

“Oh, hang it all, I’m going down to the office. 
I can explain to the judge what dad wants done, 
and by that time the time lock will have operated, 
and the safe can be opened. Come on.” 

They strolled down the street, greeting several 
friends on the way. They had a glimpse of Fat- 
head Farson, but the fat bully, at the sight of 
them, dodged around the corner. 

“I guess he’ll keep out of our way for a spell,” 
remarked Nat, grimly. 

“Sure,” assented Jack. “I’m getting rather 
tired of playing tricks on him, though. He’s too 
easy.” 

They entered the reception room, and as they 
did so Judge Bennett looked up from his desk in 
the farther apartment. Jack was at once struck 
by a peculiar expression on the lawyer’s face. He 
looked careworn, and alarmed, and the usual neat 


80 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

clothing of the old gentleman was all awry, while 
his white hair, usually combed so smoothly over 
the bald spot on his head, stood up, as if he had 
ruffled his hands through it many times. 

“Good morning, Judge,” greeted Jack. 

“Ah! Good morning — Oh, it’s Jack Ranger! 
Come on in, Jack. And Nat Anderson — walk 

right in ” and then the lawyer, with a puzzled 

look on his face, pulled out paper after paper 
from the pigeon holes of his desk. The worried 
and anxious Took on his face seemed to deepen, 
and he did not glance at the boys after his first 
greeting. 

“Is anything the matter — has anything hap- 
pened, Judge?” asked Jack, for there was some- 
thing vaguely alarming in his old friend’s man- 
ner. 

“Anything happened? No — that is — yes — I 
don’t know — I don’t see why Caleb isn’t here,” 
murmured the lawyer. 

Then, for the first time, the boys were aware, 
as they looked into the middle room, that the clerk 
was not in his accustomed place. 

“Perhaps Mr. Herkimer is ill,” suggested Jack. 

“Perhaps,” admitted the lawyer. “And yet I 
can’t understand it. If he was ill he would have 
sent me some word — and my desk — it’s all in dis- 
order — several papers are missing — I won- 
der ” Then turning to Jack, he asked: 

“Did you want to see me?” 


THE TREASURE BOX IS GONE 81 

“I came to get my treasure box,” explained 
Jack, and after relating how his father had sent 
it to him, he told how Caleb Herkimer had locked 
it in the safe the night before. “It’s nine o’clock 
now,” went on the youth, as he looked at his 
watch, “so I suppose the time lock can be worked.” 

“Certainly, certainly,” spoke the judge quickly. 
“I wonder why Caleb didn’t leave a note for me, 
though, in an important matter like that? But, 
as you say, he may be ill. Still, I can’t account 
for the missing papers — and my desk in such dis- 
order. He had strict instructions never to open 
it.” 

The boys, hearing this, thought of the scene 
they had witnessed the previous afternoon. 

“A treasure box; eh, Jack?” went on the Judge, 
stepping away from his desk, and approaching the 
big safe. “I congratulate you.” 

“Wait until we see what’s in it,” suggested Jack, 
with a laugh. “It may contain nothing but old 
iron.” 

“Oh, hope not — I hope not,” spoke the judge 
as he swung open the massive doors. 

Eagerly Jack and Nat peered forward. They 
knew from the position of the treasure box in the 
safe, that it would be the first thing to greet their 
eyes. 

Yet, as they looked when the massive doors 
were wide open, there was nothing like the chest 
to be seen. There was no box in the safe. The 


82 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

treasure, which Caleb Herkimer had so carefully 
locked up, was gone, and the very size of the 
box precluded the possibility of it being in any 
inner compartment. 

“The box — my treasure box — it’s gone!” 
gasped Jack. 

“Gone?” echoed Nat. 

“Gone!” repeated Jack, blankly. 

The lawyer quickly opened an inner door of the 
strong box. He revealed a small compartment. 
It was empty. 

“Robbed!” he cried. “The safe has been 
robbed! The five thousand dollars I left in there 
has been taken ! I’ve been robbed, and — and your 
treasure box is gone, too, Jack! But I’ll get it 
back ! I’ll get back my money ! I know who took 
it. That’s why he wasn’t here ! That’s why my 
desk has been ransacked! That’s where those 
valuable papers are ! Caleb Herkimer has robbed 
me and you, Jack! We must notify the police 
at once and get the detectives after hlral He has 
your treasure box.” 


CHAPTER IX 

THE DETECTIVES ARRIVE 

Jack stared blankly at Judge Bennett. Then 
he looked into the safe that had held his treasure 
box. There was no doubt that it was missing. 
Our hero next looked around the room, as if in 
hopes that the clerk might, after all, have left 
the chest behind somewhere. The lawyer knew 
of what his client was thinking. 

“No, Jack, it isn’t here,” he said, more calmly. 
“For some time past I have suspected Caleb Her- 
kimer of underhanded practices, though not of 
downright dishonesty. I should have discharged 
him, but I had a number of matters to occupy my 
attention of late, and I thought he might turn over 
a new leaf. But he did not. He watched his 
chance, and, when I was away, he robbed me.” 

“But how could he get into the safe when the 
time lock was on?” asked Nat. “Slabsided spala- 
peenes! We saw him put the clock catch on, 
didn’t we, Jack? He set the time lock while we 
were here.” 

“Ha ! that accounts for it,” remarked the judge, 
as if he had thought of something. “That’s why 
83 


84 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Caleb made such a fuss about that lock. You 
see,” the lawyer continued, turning to the boys, 
“the time lock on my safe is not a regular one. 
I had it attached after the safe was purchased, and 
it is not of the latest pattern. In fact it never 
worked well, and, of late, neither Caleb nor I 
have used it, for it was slightly out of order, and 
I did not bother to have it fixed. The clock part 
ran all right, and could be set, but the bolts did 
not slide, and, as for locking the safe by the time 
arrangement, you might as well have wedged the 
door tight with a toothpick.” 

“But we saw Mr. Herkimer set it,” insisted 
Jack. 

“I know, but he only pretended to do it. Why, 
he even left a note for me, hanging on the safe 
door, saying that he had fixed the time lock, and 
that it was set for nine o’clock this morning. I 

believed him, but — look here ” Mr. Bennett 

showed that the bolts of the time lock could be 
moved with his finger, without the handle attached 
to them being operated, proving that the lock 
was out of order. 

“Then we needn’t have waited until nine o’clock 
to open the safe?” asked Nat. 

“No,” answered the Judge. “But Caleb took 
that means of delaying, as long as possible, the 
discovery of his crime. I believed what he wrote, 
in the note, about the lock, and didn’t try to oper- 


THE DETECTIVES ARRIVE 85; 

ate it until nine. As a mater of fact I could have 
opened the safe as soon as I got here. But the 
discovery of the upset condition of the papers in 
my desk took all my attention.” 

“And my treasure box is gone,” repeated Jack, 
mournfully. “And I didn’t have a chance to see 
what was in it! Dad will be cut up about this. 
He warned me to take good care of it, and 
now ” 

“You couldn’t help it,” said Nat. “Galloping 
gallowogs! You never suspected Caleb Herki- 
mer.” 

“No one would, unless he had seen some suspi- 
cious acts of his, of late,” declared the judge. “He 
waited his chance until I was away, and the safe 
held a large sum of money of mine, some valu- 
able papers belonging to my clients, and your box. 
Then he committed the theft. Was your box 
heavy, Jack? Would he need help in carrying it 
away?” 

“Well, not so heavy, as it was awkward to 
carry,” replied our hero. “Nat and I could either 
of us have lifted it alone, but it was unhandy 
for one person to get along with.” 

“I was asking to decide whether or not Caleb 
had had any help,” the lawyer went on. “But we 
must lose no time ; I’ll notify the local police, and 
then I’ll send for a private detective. We must 
get right to work. Now tell me all about your 


86 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

box, and give me the details once more of ho? 
you came to leave it here.” Which Jack did, being 
prompted by Nat occasionally. They related how 
they had passed the building that night, and how 
they had seen the shadow, and heard the cries of 
a man having a tooth extracted. 

‘‘Good!” exclaimed Judge Bennett. “Perhaps 
the dentist will be able to give us a clew. He 
must have been here late. But I’ll let the detect- 
ives do that part of it. I’ll notify the police of 
Denton, and have them see if they can get any 
trace of Caleb. I’ll have them go to his home. 
To think, after all the years I have employed 
that man, and the many favors I have done him, 
that he should repay me this way ! He must have 
been gambling or speculating, and so fallen into 
debt. Poor Caleb, I didn’t think it of you!” and 
the lawyer sighed. 

Events had happened so suddenly, and the dis- 
covery of the disappearance of his treasure box 
had so startled Jack, that he hardly yet realized 
its loss. Hoping against hope, he looked all about 
the three rooms of the judge’s office, but there 
was no trace of the box. 

“Now we’ll have to get busy,” went on Mr. 
Bennett, briskly. “You boys will have to help. 
For the present say nothing to any one, but go 
quietly to the police station, and ask the chief 
to step to my office. I could telephone, but some 


THE DETECTIVES ARRIVE 87 

one might overhear it. In the meanwhile I will 
telegraph to a firm of private detectives. I have 
employed them before, for some of my clients. 
I never thought I’d need them for myself.” 

In a short time Chief Bandford, of the Denton 
police, was in the lawyer’s office. He at once 
agreed to make quiet inquiries for Caleb Herki- 
mer. A reply was also received from the private 
detective agency, stating that two men would be 
in Denton that afternoon. There was little else 
to be done after this, and Jack and Nat left the 
office. 

In about an hour they made their way back to 
hear possible news. The chief had just gone, and 
had merely been able to report that Caleb Herki- 
mer had left his home early the previous evening, 
and had not returned. As he had no relatives 
in town, and merely boarded with an elderly 
couple, they were unable to throw any light on 
his movements. 

“Did the chief ask the railroad agent if Herki- 
mer bought a ticket for out of town?” asked 
Jack. 

“I’m leaving all that for the regular detectives,” 
said the judge. “They’ll know better how to 
make those inquiries without causing too much 
suspicion. They should be here soon, now.” 

The two detectives arrived two hours later. 


88 JACK RANGER'S TREASURE BOX 

They were quiet, unassuming men, and one would 
never have supposed them to be tracers of crimi- 
nals. They went right to work, and, inside of 
an hour they had ascertained that Caleb Herki- 
mer had purchased a ticket for New York, hav- 
ing bought it at Far Hills, two stations beyond 
Denton, but within easy driving distance. 

“And did he have my box with him?” asked 
Jack, eagerly. 

“Hard to say,” replied the detective, whose 
name was Tyler, his companion being Jenkert. 
“Mr. Herkimer checked a trunk that may have 
contained your box, as well as the five thousand 
dollars belonging to the judge, and his private 
papers as well.” 

“Is there any way of tracing him farther?” 
asked Nat. 

“Oh, yes,” replied Mr. Jenkert. “We’ll get 
busy in New York, now. Just as soon as we have 
finished here.” 

“Why, what more is there to learn?” asked 
Jack, in some surprise. “You have found that 
Mr. Herkimer left town with my box, and ” 

“Yes, but we haven’t exhausted the possibili- 
ties here,” declared Detective Tyler. “It looks 
now as if Caleb Herkimer was all alone in this, 
yet he may have had accomplices. I think you 
said something about a dentist in the building be- 


THE DETECTIVES ARRIVE 


ing at work rather late last night ?” and the offi- 
cer looked at the judge. 

“Yes, these lads saw him. Jack, just ask Dr. 
Parker to kindly step here,” and, while waiting 
for the dentist, the two detectives began a sys- 
tematic inspection of the judge’s rooms. 


CHAPTER X 

A NEW CLEW 

Quite a nervous little man was Dr. Parker. 
He bustled into the judge’s office, fairly slammed 
himself down into a chair, and crossed and un- 
crossed his legs, drummed with his fingers on the 
table near which he sat, and then, peering about, 
as if seeking to discover whether any one present 
had any aching molars, or an eye tooth that needed 
filling: 

“Well, Judge Bennett,” he spoke, “Pm sorry 
to hear that you’ve had quite a loss.” 

“We hope you will be able to furnish a clew,” 
interposed Detective Jenkert. 

“Who, me? Oh, no! No! Never, my dear 
detective. I know nothing about the ways of crim- 
inals, though once I was called into the jail to 
extract an aching tooth from a boy who had been 
arrested for throwing a baseball through a win- 
dow. But then, he was not what one might call 
a real criminal. No, I have no knowledge of 
criminals. None whatever,” and the little dentist 
nervously crossed his legs in the opposite direc- 
90 


A NEW CLEW 


9i 

tion, and, straightway, resumed his former atti- 
tude. 

Then, after considerable explaining, it was 
pointed out to him that, having been in his office 
rather late the previous evening, he might have 
seen, or heard, some suspicious persons about in 
the judge’s office. This put the matter in a new 
light, and the little dentist, after considering the 
case, thoughtfully replied: 

“Now I come to think of it, perhaps I may be 
able to furnish a clew. I was in my office, as you 
have said. I was extracting a large molar from 
the jaw of a man who gave me considerable 
trouble. He ” 

“We heard him yell,” explained Jack. 

“Yes, he was a very obstinate person. He 
would not take gas, nor would he let me use co- 
caine. Consequently there was considerable pain. 
But that was not what I started to say. In con- 
sequence of the tooth being a hard one to extract 
I had to use a number of instruments. Then, 
when the patient had gone, I remained to clean 
them, and get my office in order. So it was rather 
late when I left. I don’t know the exact time. 
In fact my watch had stopped, so, even if I had 
looked at it, I would not have been able to 
tell ” 

“Well, what did you see?” interrupted Detect- 
ive Tyler, who was getting a bit impatient. 


92 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“I’m coming to that part directly,” went on 
Dr. Parker, in no manner disturbed. “As I was 
walking down the dark hall of this building, on 
my way out, and it was dark, you understand, 
because I had turned out the light in my office, 
and the only other one was at the foot of the 
stairway. As I was walking down the dark hall, 
you understand, I passed your office, Judge Ben- 
nett. As I came opposite your door I thought I 
saw a light from beneath it. I was just going 
to step in, and say good night, when the light 
seemed to suddenly vanish. Then I concluded I 
had been mistaken, as I heard no sound inside, 
and I fancied the light must have been the reflec- 
tion from an electric in the street.” 

“There is no electric lamp in the street that 
could shine in the windows of the judge’s office,” 
said Detective Jenkert, quietly. 

“No?” questioned Dr. Parker, slightly sur- 
prised. “Well, Pm sure I saw a light. However, 
I may have been mistaken, but I am positive of 
what I saw next.” 

“What was it?” asked Jack, eagerly. “Did 
you see any one with a box ” 

“No,” spoke the little dentist, carefully uncross- 
ing his legs, and then recrossing them again, “I 
saw no one with a box, but as I got to the foot 
of the stairway I met a man coming up.” 


A NEW CLEW 


93 


“A man?” cried Detective Tyler. “Was 
it ” 

“It wasn’t Mr. Herkimer, if that’s what you’re 
going to ask,” replied the dentist quickly. “The 
man was a stranger to me. At first I thought it 
was a patient looking for me, or, perhaps, the 
same person whose tooth I had just pulled, but, 
when I looked again, by the light of the lamp, at 
the foot of the stairs, I saw that it was a small 
man, with a small, very black moustache ” 

“That’s the man!” cried Nat Anderson, excit- 
edly. 

“What man?” asked both detectives quickly. 

“The one I’ve been suspicious of all along,” 
went on Nat, and he proceeded to explain the 
encounters of himself and Jack with the man, evi- 
dently a foreigner, first in the express office, and 
and again, in the ice-cream parlor, on which last 
occasion he had a girl with him. 

“That proves nothing,” was the opinion of De- 
tective Tyler. “Go on, please, Dr. Parker. What 
did this man do?” 

“Nothing,” answered the dentist, while Nat felt 
a bit crestfallen. “He merely turned around, and 
walked away.” 

“Didn’t he say anything?” 

“Yes, he asked me if that was a doctor’s office, 
as he said a friend of his was ill.” 

“What did you say?” inquired Judge Bennett. 


94 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“I told him I was a dentist Doubtless he had 
mistaken my sign for that of a physician. That 
is all I know.” 

“But about the man!” exclaimed Mr. Jenkert. 
“What became of him?” 

“Oh, he asked me to direct him to a physician, 
and I did so, telling him how to reach Dr. Mars- 
den’s office on the next street. Then I went on 
home. The man hurried off ahead of me.” 

In spite of a vigorous cross-questioning that was 
ail the evidence that Dr. Parker could give, but 
it was valuable in a measure. It seemed to prove 
that Caleb Herkimer, or whoever the thief was, 
had been at work early in the judge’s office. Also 
that Caleb might have had an accomplice, or that 
the strange man, whom Jack and Nat had seen, 
had in some way been mixed up in the affair. Yet 
the latter theory did not seem reasonable for the 
reason that the judge’s safe, even with the time 
lock out of order, was one difficult to open unless 
it was forced. 

And yet it was not forced. Whoever had re- 
moved from it the treasure box, the money and 
papers, had worked the combination. This 
pointed to Caleb Herkimer. No foreigner would 
have been able to do it, for, as the judge explained, 
once he had forgotten the combination, and it 
took an expert from the factory two days to open 


A NEW CLEW 


95 


his strong box, for the lawyer did not wish it 
taken apart. 

“That seems to preclude the possibility of the 
foreigner whom you boys suspect having taken 
the treasure,’’ said Detective Tyler. “It seems to 
centre down on Mr. Herkimer. We will at once 
begin to trace him. I’ll wire to New York, and 
have all outgoing steamers watched, for doubtless 
he will flee to some foreign country.” 

“I guess that is the best plan,” agreed Judge 
Bennett, with a sigh. “Poor Caleb, in spite of 
the fact that he has robbed me, and taken Jack’s 
treasure box, I feel sorry for him. He is now a 
hunted man, with a price on his head, for I am 
going to offer a reward of a thousand dollars for 
his capture.” 

“And I’m sure dad will do the same,” spoke 
Jack, eagerly. “I’ll telegraph him ” 

“There’s time enough. He’ll soon be home,” 
said the lawyer. “Then you gentlemen,” turning 
to the detectives, “haven’t been able to pick up 
any clews here?” 

“None worth speaking of,” replied Mr. Tyler. 
“We have looked all about, and it is evident that 
whoever robbed you (and I am sure it was Herki- 
mer) was in a hurry. This is shown by the man- 
ner in which your papers are scattered about. By 
the way, perhaps it would be possible to trace your 


96 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

clerk if he attempts to make use of any of the 
documents he took from the safe and desk.” 

“Perhaps,” admitted the lawyer. “I will give 
you a memorandum of them, and the names of the 
persons to whom they refer.” 

“That will do,” agreed the officer. “Then I 
can keep in touch with the persons, and, if Herki- 
mer makes any demands for money, or tries some 
form of blackmail, we’ll have him.” 

While the judge Tyas making out a list, and the 
detectives were jotting down some notes, Jack and 
Nat wandered about the apartment. Dr. Parker 
had gone back to his office. 

The rooms of the lawyer were in curious con- 
trast to their usual neat appearance, for what con- 
fusion had been caused by the thief, or thieves, had 
been added to by the judge in looking over his 
desk, and by the detectives. Papers and books 
were scattered all about. 

“Well, it sure is tough luck,” agreed Nat, as 
he and Jack stood at a window, gazing moodily 
down into the street. “I guess this will break 
up the yachting trip; eh?” 

“I certainly won’t feel like going away, until I 
get some trace of my box,” said Jack. 

“Sam and the fellows will be counting on us,” 
went on Nat. “Perhaps we’d better notify them, 
for Pm not going unless you go.” 

“Nonsense ! Of course you are. Don’t let me 


A NEW CLEW 


9 7 


influence you. Perhaps, if I could get a clew ” 

Jack paused suddenly. His eyes seemed riveted 
on something in one corner of the room. He 
stooped, and picked up a small object. 

“Look at this !” he exclaimed to his chum. 

“A woman’s hatpin!” cried Nat. “Rolling wa- 
termelons! Say, Jack, don’t you recognize it?” 

“Recognize it? No. My acquaintance with 
ladies who wear expensive hatpins like this is very 
limited.” 

The pin was of curious and beautiful workman- 
ship, seemingly of silver and gold, cunningly 
welded together, and in the centre was some sort 
of a blood-red stone — perhaps a ruby. 

“And you don’t remember that pin?” asked 
Nat, as he took it from Jack, and held it up. 

“No. Do you?” 

“What have you found?” asked Detective 
Tyler. 

“A clew,” answered Nat, quietly. 

“A clew? To what?” 

“The robbery last night! See, this hatpin was 
one worn by the pretty woman — or girl — who was 
with the dark, foreign-looking man, whom we met 
in the ice-cream parlor. Don’t you remember, 
Jack? She looked at you in a way I’d not forget, 
if it had been me.” 

“The girl with the foreigner!” exclaimed Mr. 
Tyler. “Then she ” 


98 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“She must have been here!” burst out Jack. 
“Perhaps she — she ” 

“Perhaps she took your treasure box,” finished 
Nat. “It’s a hard thing to say, Jack, for she was 
mighty pretty, but ” and he held up the jew- 

eled pin. 

It was a new clew, and was destined to prove 
a most valuable one. 


CHAPTER XI 

A CHANGE OF PLANS 

Jack’s discovery of the pin at once put a new 
face on the matter. The detectives were eagerly 
interested, and wanted to hear, over again, all 
that pertained to the mysterious stranger — the 
Spaniard — as the boys had begun to call him, for 
want of a better title. 

“I wonder if Dr. Parker saw anything of the 
girl?” mused Nat. “Perhaps she was hiding 
around the corner, while the man was robbing the 
safe ” 

“Couldn’t be,” declared Jack. “Dr. Parker 
saw a light under the judge’s door when he was 
passing it, and it was after that, that he met the 
man down at the front steps.” 

“Then the girl was up in the office, looting the 
safe, while the man kept watch, and made those 
inquiries about the doctor for his sick friend 
merely as a blind. The girl is the thief, Jack.” 

“Never!” exclaimed our hero, energetically. 
“She — she wasn’t that kind. Besides, she never 
could have carried that heavy treasure box alone.” 
He was thinking of the warm glance from the 
99 


100 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

girl’s dark eyes, when he had stood near her in 
the ice-cream parlor. 

“Well,” remarked Detective Tyler, “we are get- 
ting along fairly well. This pin will prove a val- 
uable clew, or I’m mistaken. It is of odd work- 
manship, and should be easy to trace. Is there 
a jeweler in town?” 

Jack remembered the one whose window he had 
once seen a thief smash, as told in the first volume 
of this series, and the youth also recalled the 
puzzle over the two queer rings which formed 
such important evidence in bringing back his 
father from his exile in the west. He mentioned 
the name of this jeweler, and Detective Tyler at 
once volunteered to accompany the owner of the 
treasure box to the store. 

“Yes, that pin is of foreign make,” said the jew- 
eler. “I should say it was Spanish or, perhaps, 
Mexican. The combination of gold and silver is 
not often seen. The stone, too, is peculiar. It is 
not a ruby, though it may be very valuable. I 
have not had much experience in stones.” 

“Could that pin have been made by some an- 
cient Indian tribe — say one skilled in the jewelry 
art?” asked Jack. “Some tribe that was under 
Spanish influence years ago?” 

“Perhaps. Why?” 

“Then I’ll tell you what I think,” declared Jack, 


A CHANGE OF PLANS ioi 

excitedly, to the detective, as they left the jew- 
elry store. 

“What?” 

“I believe that this pin, instead of falling out 
of the hat of the Spanish girl, came from my treas- 
ure box. Dad said the chest probably contained 
ancient jewelry, and this must be a part of it. 
Caleb Herkimer, or that Spaniard, opened my 
box in the office, and the pin fell out.” 

The detective shook his head. 

“It’s a pretty theory, but it won’t hold water,” 
he said. “In the first place, old Indian tribes, 
or, for that matter, the more recent Spaniards, 
had no uses for hatpins. They are of mod- 
ern manufacture, as is evident by the steel point 
on this. Again, you say the box is very difficult 
to open. If your father, and his friends on the 
coast couldn’t manage to solve the secret of the 
lock, it is hardly possible that a tKief, in the 
middle of the night, would stop to do so.” 

“But that Spaniard — I mean the man — not the 
girl — may have known the secret of the lock, and 
it may not have taken him a second to open the 
box,” insisted Jack. “Maybe they smashed it 
open.” 

Once more the detective shook his head. 

“You forget that your friend, Nat, saw this 
hatpin in the hat of the girl in the ice-cream par- 
lor,” he said. “That was before the robbery.” 


!o2 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Jack sighed. 

“I — I guess she’s guilty — or one of the guilty 
ones,” he admitted. 

Inquiries were made of the railroad officials 
regarding the leaving of two foreign persons from 
Denton the previous night or early the next morn- 
ing. News of them was quickly secured. The 
man and girl had taken an early train for New 
York. Neither of them carried any luggage, be- 
yond a small handbag which the girl had, nor did 
they send any trunks or valises by express, or as 
baggage. It was found that the two had stopped 
at the only hotel in Denton, that they had occupied 
separate rooms, and had passed as brother and 
sister. They had come without baggage, two days 
previous, had paid cash in advance, and had de- 
parted as they arrived. They had maintained 
silence while in town, and the only thing about 
them that was known was their names, which they 
had given as Maximina and Rodnez Manacca. 

“Well, our inquiry will have to be along two 
lines,” decided the detectives, as they took their 
departure. “We will have to work from the New 
York end, now, and try to trace these Spanish 
people, and also Caleb Herkimer. As soon as 
we have any news, Judge Bennett, we will let you 
know.” 

They left, and Jack, as far as his treasure box 
was concerned, was as badly off as before. He 


A CHANGE OF PLANS 


103 

returned home in a very despondent frame of 
mind, and broke the news to his aunts, who were 
properly horrified, and who wanted to do all sorts 
of impossible things. 

“Jack!” exclaimed Aunt Angelina, with a 
fierceness that was in strange contrast to her name, 
“why don’t you go to New York at once, and 
arrest these people?” 

“I would, if I knew where to go,” he answered, 
moodily. 

“That Caleb Herkimer!” exclaimed Aunt 
Josephine. “I — I wish I had hold of him ! I’d — 
I’d — pull his ears good, that’s what I’d do !” 

Jack laughed at her fierce manner, and her con- 
trastingly gentle mode of punishment. 

“Oh, but Jack!” exclaimed Aunt Mary, “here’s 
a telegram for you — two of them in fact. They 
came a little while ago, and scared us greatly.” 

Jack ripped open the envelopes. 

“Dad’ll be here to-night,” he announced, as he 
perused the words quickly. Then he read the 
other message. 

“It’s from Sam Chalmers,” he stated. “He’s 
made all the arrangements for the cruise, and 
wants me to communicate with Captain Reeger. 
Sam and Bony will be here to-morrow, ready to 
go on to New York. The other fellows couldn’t 
go. Well, I’m not going either, though I’ll ar- 
range about Captain Reeger for them. 


104 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Not going!” exclaimed Aunt Mary, for the 
aunts had been told of Jack’s proposed cruise. 

“No; not until I get some trace of my treasure 
box.” 

A little later Jack went to tell Nat Anderson 
the news, and nothing his friend could say, from 
“slabsided sauerkraut” to “mystifying masto- 
dons !” induced our hero to change his mind. He 
wanted to get on the track of the thief or thieves 
who had stolen his box, and so would abandon 
the prospective cruise. 

Mr. Ranger arrived in Denton that evening, and 
was much surprised, and not a little chagrined, 
to hear of the loss of the box. He went into 
detail about how he had come to get possession 
of the chest, though he was not able to throw 
any more light on the contents. Nor was he able 
to suggest, after hearing the story of the theft, 
and the clews, who might have taken it — whether 
Caleb Herkimer, or the Spaniard. 

“But there’s no need of you giving up your 
yachting cruise on this account,” said Mr. Ranger 
to his son. “I’ll look for the box for you, Jack.” 

“No, thank you, dad, I want to do it myself,” 
and Jack’s mind seemed made up. Nor could the 
arrival of Sam Chalmers and Bony Balmore effect 
any change. They reached Denton two days after 
Mr. Ranger, having been delayed. They were 
full of spirits, and told great stories of the closing 


A CHANGE OF PLANS 


105 


of Washington Hall, which were further supple- 
mented by Budge Rankin, whose testimony, how- 
ever, was somewhat marred by his gum-chewing 
habit. 

“Alltothemustard !” was how he described the 
final scenes, at which Jack and Nat were not 
present. 

“But how about this cruise business?” began 
Sam. “It’s too bad, Jack, that you’re going to 
back out. It’ll be no fun, if you and Nat don’t 
go. I guess we all may as well give it up; and 
after our great preparation, too ! Why, I’ve had 
enough grub sent aboard the Sea Bird to last for 
a voyage to the North Pole. My uncle’s law firm 
hired a cook, and two machinists for us. All we 
have to do is to get Captain Reeger, and start 
off.” 

“Well, I’ve written to Captain Reeger for you,” 
said Jack, but it was with none of his usual en- 
thusiasm. “He’ll go all right.” 

“But we want you!” insisted Bony, in his earn- 
estness cracking his kuckles one after the other. 

“Can’t go,” declared Jack, positively. “I’m 
going to be busy, just as soon as I hear from those 
detectives. Nat ought to go with you fellows, 
though, and maybe I’ll join you later. But 
now ” 

“Say,” remarked Budge Rankin, who just then 
strolled past where Jack and his chums were talk- 


106 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

ing, on the street corner, not far from Jack’s 
home, “say, Jack, yourauntswantchu ?” 

“My aunts want me?” repeated Jack, after a 
pause necessary to translate Budge’s gum-chewing 
language into English. 

“Yep. ’Stelephonemessagelthink.” 

“Telephone message; eh? Wait a minute, fel- 
lows, and I’ll be right back,” and Jack set off on 
a run toward the house, while his chums discussed 
his refusal to go with them. Bony and Sam were 
trying to persuade Nat to think better of his reso- 
lution to stick by Jack, and to accompany them, 
when Jack came back, still on the run. 

“Judge Bennett wants to see me,” he explained, 
pantingly. “I guess it’s something about my treas- 
ure box! Come on down to his office.” 

Jack found the lawyer bending over a pile of 
papers on his desk, for he had not yet secured 
another clerk, and his documents were still in 
confusion. 

“Ah, Jack,” began the lawyer. “I have some 
news for you — not very good, though. I’m afraid 
you have seen the last of your treasure box, and 
I of my five thousand dollars — to say nothing of 
my papers.” 

“Why so ?” asked Jack, as he quickly introduced 
Sam and Bony. 

“I have just received word from Detective 
Tyler, who went to New York,” continued the 


A CHANGE OF PLANS 


107 


former jurist. “He says that he has been able to 
trace Caleb Herkimer, but that he has no clew to 
the Spanish man or girl.” 

“Where is Caleb?” asked Jack, eagerly. “I’m 
sure he has my box.” 

“I am beginning to believe so myself,” resumed 
the judge. “Well, the detective has learned that 
Caleb Herkimer sailed for Porto Rico three days 
ago, taking a very heavy trunk with him.” 

“Porto Rico!” gasped Jack. “Away down 
there ?” 

“Oh, it’s not such a great distance,” went on 
Mr. Bennett, “but with the start he has, and know- 
ing something of the conditions in Porto Rico, 
I’m afraid you’ve seen the last of him, and your 
box. I am thinking of sending the detective down 
there, but it is an almost hopeless chase.” 

There was silence in the office for a few seconds. 
No one knew what to say. At last Sam Chalmers 
spoke. 

“Jack,” he began, “do you suppose Captain 
Reeger would know how to sail for Porto Rico ?” 

“I should think so. But why?” 

“I’ll tell you,” resumed Sam, with energy, as 
he got up from his chair. “If he’ll consent to pilot 
the Sea Bird there, we’ll go in her, and have a 
chase after this Caleb Herkimer and your treas- 
ure box ! We might just as well cruise down there 
as along the New England coast. I wasn’t much 


10 8 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

stuck on that plan, anyhow. Now we’ll change 
it ! I’m sure my uncle will consent. This is what 
we’ll do. We’ll go in Uncle Bill’s yacht to Porto 
Rico, or any other old place that this treasure-box 
thief flees to! Will you come, Jack? You and 
Nat?” 

“Will I?” cried Jack. “I guess I will ! That’s 
the stuff! Now we have a chance to get Mr. 
Herkimer. I never thought of this. Can the 
motor-yacht go so far, Sam?” 

“Sure, and farther. We’ll get Mr. Caleb 
Herkimer and the treasure box, too, if he still 
has it!” 

“Or, the pretty Spanish girl — if she has it,” said 
Nat, — and Jack glared at his chum. 


CHAPTER XII 

ALL ABOARD ! 

Nat Anderson had to dodge behind a chair, 
to escape the leap which Jack made at him, after 
the somewhat sneering remark about the girl. 

“Hyperdermic hoptoads 1” exclaimed Nat, when 
our hero’s first rush was over, harmlessly, as it 
transpired, “What’s the matter, Jack?” 

“You know what’s the matter, well enough. 
What do you want to go making cracks like that 
for?” 

“Like what?” 

“Saying that Miss Manacca is a thief.” 

“Miss Manacca!” cried Sam, who had heard 
the story, as had Bony. “He’s got her name 
down all right, fellows.” 

“He sure has,” agreed Bony. “Oh, wait until 
I write to Miss Mabel Pierce, out west.” 

“Say, fellows, cut it out,” begged Jack, earn- 
estly “It’s a pity I wouldn’t know her name, when 
it was on the hotel register. But that’s got nothing 
to do with it. It’s not right to say she stole the 
treasure box.” 

“You as good as admitted it yourself,” said 


no JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Nat, indignantly. “If she didn’t take it, that 
Spanish fellow with her did,” 

“Maybe not,” went on Jack, not caring to an- 
swer his chum’s first accusation. “That was be- 
fore we had heard from the detectives in New 
York. It’s practically certain, now, that Caleb 
Herkimer has my treasure box, and we’re going 
after him.” 

“That’s the way to talk!” cried Judge Bennett, 
“and, while you’re about it, Jack, get back my 
money and papers.” 

“Sure, we will,” promised Sam. “Now, let’s 
get busy, fellows. We ought to be in New York 
now.” 

“Where’s the Sea Bird?” asked Nat. 

“Waiting for us in the Erie Basin. She’s all 
stocked up by this time, and all we want to do is 
to get aboard, arrange to have Captain Reeger 
meet us, and sail. It’s up to you, Jack.” 

“All right. I’ll do my part.” 

Once Jack did get started there was no stop- 
ping him. He hurried home, told his father and 
aunts of the change in plans, and sent a message 
to Captain Reeger. Then he began to pack, an 
example followed by Nat. 

Bony and Sam were to remain as guests of Jack 
in the two or three days that would elapse before 
they set sail. In the meanwhile a message was 


ALL ABOARD! 


m 


received from Captain Reeger, saying that he 
would meet the boys in New York. 

Jack’s aunts made quite a fuss about him going 
on the cruise, particularly when the object was 
the capture of the thief, but Mr. Ranger, after 
carefully considering it, decided in his son’s favor. 

“It will do Jack good,” he declared. “He’s 
got to shift for himself, sooner or later; and, be- 
sides, I want that treasure box back. There may 
be nothing in it, and, again, there may be con- 
siderable. But I want to see the inside of it. Go 
ahead, Jack, and bring it back with you.” 

In the interval of getting ready for the trip 
to Porto Rico, another message was received from 
Detective Tyler, who was still in New York. It 
confirmed the news that Caleb Herkimer had fled 
to the former Spanish island possession, and stated 
that there was little chance of having him appre- 
hended there, on account of the peculiar police 
conditions then existing in the place. Also, the 
officer sent word, it was doubtful if a warrant 
could be obtained merely on such suspicion a$ 
was entertained by Jack and Judge Bennett. Il 
would be best for Jack and his friends to proceed 
directly to San Juan, and from that Porto Rican 
port start their search and inquiry. The detective 
promised to meet the boys in New York. 

The lads started for the metropolis three days 
later. 


1 12 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Almost at the last minute Jack proposed taking 
Budge Rankin along. He had a great liking for 
the odd chap, as had his chums, in fact, and Jack 
thought that the youth, who was strong and a 
willing worker, would prove valuable on the voy- 
age. He was a fairly good cook, and, though 
Sam’s uncle had recommended a colored man to 
preside over the galley, still Budge might come 
in handy. As for Budge himself, when the propo- 
sition was made to him, he hardly stopped chew- 
ing gum long enough to say: 

“Surel’llgo.” 

“All right. Pack up,” ordered Jack, and Budge 
did so, with as much unconcern as if some one 
had asked him to go to the post-office. 

“This,” observed Bony Balmore, as he sat in 
the train, speeding to the metropolis, cracking his 
knuckles to keep time with the clattering of the 
car wheels over the rail joints, “this is going to 
be great, I think! It will be a heap sight more 
fun than merely sailing along the New England 
coast.” 

“Sure,” agreed Sam. “And if we can only catch 
that Herkimer ” 

“Or the pretty Spanish girl,” interrupted Nat. 

“Drop that!” commanded Jack, with a danger- 
ous look in his eyes. 

“Well, say, if she didn’t have anything to do 
with taking the treasure box, how do you account 


ALL ABOARD! 


for her hatpin being found in the judge’s office?’* 
asked Nat. 

“She may have called to see the judge on busi- 
ness, and dropped it,” suggested Jack. 

“Rats!” ejaculated Nat. “You’ve got to think 
up a better reason than that, old man.” 

Jack thought so himself, but said nothing. 
Truth to tell, he was uncomfortable about that bit 
of evidence against the pretty, dark-eyed girl. He 
had the hatpin in his possession, and he was won- 
dering what to do with it. He did not believe 
that the fair owner of it had taken his box. He 
felt that the Spanish-looking man might be a sus- 
picious character, but Jack had set down Caleb 
Herkimer as the thief of the treasure chest, and 
nothing Nat could say would induce him to believe 
Miss Manacca guilty — that is, not then. Later — 
but I will get to that presently. 

The boys arrived at the Grand Central station 
in New York about an hour behind time, because 
of a freight wreck up near Poughkeepsie. But 
they did not mind that, and went at once to the 
hotel which Sam’s uncle had recommended. Leav- 
ing their baggage there, they hired a taxicab and 
drove about, seeing the sights until time for sup- 
per, as they had decided not to visit the Erie 
Basin, to inspect the yacht, until the following day. 

New York was no great novelty to the other 
lads, but it was to Budge. Still, he did not betray 


1 1 4 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

his wonder, but, like an Indian, remained silent 
But, when he was about to sit down to the table 
with the others ( for, though he was in the nature 
of an employee, there were no false social distinc- 
tions), the odd lad remarked, all in a breath: 

“Thizabusierplace’nDenton.” 

“A busier place than Denton!” exclaimed Jack. 
“I should say so!” 

“Well, I should crack a watermelon,” observed 
Nat, and the others laughed. 

That evening Captain Reeger, in response to 
a message sent to his hotel, called on the boys. 

“How’s the Sea Bird?” was Sam’s first ques- 
tion. 

“Fine,” was the equally enthusiastic response 
of the sailor. 

“And ready to make a long chase?” inquired 
Jack. 

“Sure !” 

“Then we sail to-morrow?” asked Bony, crack- 
ing his finger joints in rapid succession, to the no 
small wonder of Captain Reeger. 

“Yes, if you’re ready. But I believe Detective 
Tyler wants to see you. I have met him since I 
have been in New York, and he said he had fur- 
ther news for you.” 

“What sort of news?” asked Jack. 

“I don’t know exactly, but he mentioned another 


ALL ABOARD! 115 

yacht having set sail for Porto Rico recently, with 
a Spaniard on board, who acted suspiciously.” 

“A Spaniard ? Was there a — a girl with him ?” 
demanded Jack. 

“I couldn’t say,” answered Captain Reeger, 
“Mr. Tyler said he’d try and call this evening.” 

Then followed an exchange of news between 
the captain on one side and the boys on the other. 
Sam wanted to hear all about the yacht, as did 
his chums, and the captain was able to satisfy 
them. The Sea Bird was all ready to start, he 
stated, as she w T as all provisioned, the crew and 
cook were aboard, and all that was lacking was 
the presence of the schoolboy yachtsmen. 

“But about Detective Tyler,” said Jack. “We 
must hear what he says. Perhaps I’d better gc 
out, and see if I can find him. I have his address.” 

At that moment there came a knock on the 
door of the private parlor which was part of the 
suite of apartments hired by the boys. A bell-boy 
entered with a card. 

“Detective Tyler’s here now,” exclaimed Jack. 
“Bring him right up,” he added to the much-but- 
toned messenger. “What’s this about another 
yacht?” asked Jack, when the officer entered. 

“I learned that a large motor yacht, named the 
Dolphin, sailed for San Juan yesterday,” said 
Mr. Tyler. “On board of her, in addition to 


Ii6 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

others, was a Spaniard who went by the name 
of Manacca!” 

“Manacca !” cried Jack. “That’s the one ” 

“Yes, the one who, with a Spanish girl, was 
in Denton the night of the robbery,” interrupted 
the officer. “I have satisfied myself on that point. 
Whether he took your box, and the papers and 
money from the judge, is another matter. But 
he sailed on the Dolphin ” 

“Was — was — his — was there a girl with him?” 
stammered Jack. 

“No,” answered the detective. “He had some 
friends on board, however. They were Jonas 

Lavine and Jerry Chowden, and ” 

“Jonas Lavine and Jerry Chowden!” cried 
Jack, and his words were echoed by Nat, and his 
other chums. If a bombshell had been thrown 
into the hotel parlor at that moment, it could not 
have created more dismay. Jack even forgot to 
be glad that the girl with the black eyes was not 
on the Dolphin. 

“Jonas Lavine and Jerry Chowden?” repeated 
Mr. Tyler questioningly. “Why, is there any- 
thing strange in that? I don’t see ” 

“That’s because you don’t know them,” inter- 
rupted Nat. “Slabsided sauerkraut! if there are 
two worse characters than Lavine and Jerry 
Chowden I want to know it,” and between them, 
Jack and Nat managed to tell the officer of the 


ALL ABOARD! 


ii? 

acts of the bully, Chowden, while he was at Wash- 
ington Hall, and also how he had aided Lavine 
in kidnapping Jack and Nat aboard the Polly Ann , 
as related in the volume entitled, “Jack Ranger’s 
Ocean Cruise.” 

Captain Reeger, too, was surprised to learn of 
the near presence of his old enemy, Lavine. The 
man, it developed, had by some underhanded 
work, managed to get out of jail. 

“If Lavine and Chowden are in Porto Rico 
when we get there, we’ll have trouble,” predicted 
Nat. 

“Well, we’ll be ready for them,” declared Jack, 
grimly. “But why did they sail with this Span- 
iard, Manacca; and what is his object?” Jack 
asked the detective. This was more than the offi- 
cer could answer, though he had several theories, 
as did Jack and his chums. 

But talking could not fathom the mystery, and 
so it was decided to let it drop for the time being, 
and devote all their energies to the capture of Ca- 
leb Herkimer. The detective and Captain Reeger 
then took their departure, promising to meet the 
boys at the anchorage of the Sea Bird in Erie 
Basin next day. 

Swinging at her cables in the harbor devoted 
to vessels of many kinds, the Sea Bird was a beau- 
tiful sight when the boys were rowed out to her 
early the next morning. She was a larger boat 


ii8 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

than the boys had expected to see. Trim as a 
racer, yet with room enough to make her passen- 
gers comfortable, the craft of Sam’s uncle, so op- 
portunely loaned for the occasion, was a delight to 
the hearts of the school boys. They scrambled 
up the accommodation ladder that hung over her 
side, with a broad landing stage for boats, and 
soon stood on deck. Forward were two men, and 
a big colored fellow, the personification of health 
and good nature. All three saluted the boys, and 
Captain Reeger. 

“Is he the cook?” asked Jack, pointing at the 
colored man. 

“Dat’s who I is, sah,” was the grinning answer. 
“Was dere anyt’ing special dat yo’all would like 
fo’ dinnah ?” 

“Fried chicken!” cried Sam. 

“Watermelon on ice!” ordered Nat. 

“Corn muffins,” came from Jack. 

“Clam chowder,” was Bony’s preference. 

“What’s yours, Budge?” asked Jack. 

“Crackers’n’milk,” was the calm answer. 
“ ’Fraid I’ll be seasick,” added Budge, who, won- 
derful to relate, was not chewing any gum. 

“Well, Skeleton, give ’em what they want,” or- 
dered Sam, who, by virtue of his role as host, had 
been nominated as leader. 

“Skeleton?” questioned Jack. 

“Yes, I call him that because he’s so fat,” ex- 


ALL ABOARD! 


119 

plained Sam, as the colored man, with a grin on 
his glistening face, disappeared in his galley. “His 
right name is George Washington Andrew Jack- 
son Somethingorother, but Uncle Bill said to call 
him Skeleton. You see, he’s been on voyages with 
my uncle before, so it’s all right.” 

The boys went over the yacht. She was most 
completely fitted up. There was a powerful gaso- 
lene engine forward, capable of driving the boat at 
good speed, and the storage tanks would enable 
her to travel for a long distance without stopping 
for a new supply of gasolene. The quarters of the 
crew were forward, back of the engine compart- 
ment. Next came a saloon, or living room, where 
the boys could spend their time when it was too 
rough to be on deck. 

There was a small dining saloon back of that, 
and then came several staterooms, two bathrooms 
and storage lockers. The boat was arranged for 
comfort on a long cruise, and nothing was spared 
to make her a safe and fine home on the water. 
Three boats were carried, a small dinghy for the 
crew, a four-oared gig for the captain and his 
guests, and a little motor launch, that swung at 
davits over the starboard side, ready to be low- 
ered to the water in case a quick trip to shore 
was desired, and it was not thought best to dock 
the Sea Bird. 

On deck there were wicker chairs under an awn- 


120 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

ing, well aft, and there was a promenade deck, 
over the raised trunk cabin, while what corre- 
sponded to the bridge was in front of the forward 
skylights of this same cabin. There, on a cush- 
ioned seat, the captain and his friends could 
lounge, while the commander steered the boat by 
means of a wheel, somewhat like one on an auto- 
mobile, save for the rake. Near the wheel was 
the engine room telegraph apparatus, for signal- 
ling for different speeds, also a glass-covered chart 
table. In case of stormy weather the boat could 
be steered from inside the main saloon, or cabin. 

“Oh, this will be great!” cried Bony, as he tried 
one easy chair after another. “Simply great!” 

“That’s what,” agreed Jack. “Well, we ought 
to sail pretty soon.” 

“We will,” promised Captain Reeger. “I was 
waiting for Detective Tyler. He said he would be 
on shore at eleven o’clock to give you boys any 
possible last word.” 

“Then we’d better go ashore and meet him,” 
proposed Sam, “for it’s nearly eleven now.” 

“I’ll go,” volunteered Jack. “The message 
will be for me, anyhow, and you fellows can stay 
here and get things in shape.” 

“Yes, ship-shape,” added Captain Reeger. “I’ll 
need to fix up some papers, and see to several 
things, so I guess I’ll not go ashore again. I 


ALL ABOARD! 121 

have the clearance documents, clean bill of health, 
and all that.” 

“I’ll have Hanson, he’s the assistant engineer, 
row you ashore, and meet Tyler,” said Sam, and 
he gave the necessary order to the man, who, sa- 
luting, lowered the dinghy to the water, and in- 
vited Jack to get in. 

The row to the edge of the dock basin was 
short, and Jack found the detective waiting for 
him. Mr. Tyler had been unable to learn any 
further details concerning either Caleb Herkimer, 
or Lavine, Chowden and the mysterious Spaniard. 

“Or Miss — I mean the Spanish girl, either?” 
asked Jack, and his heart was strangely beating. 

“No, she seems to have disappeared,” was the 
answer. “Well, I hope you boys have a good 
time on your outing,” and the officer turned away. 
“I hope you get back your treasure box,” he cried 
to Jack, waving his hand. 

Jack was about to give an order for the assist- 
ant engineer to row him back to the Sea Bird 
when our hero saw a girl running down toward 
the landing float from which he was about to 
push off. Following her was an elderly negro 
woman, carrying two valises, and a number of 
boxes. 

“Oh!” cried the girl, breathlessly, as she fairly 
flew down upon the float, near Jack, “I hope I’m 
in time.” 


122 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

At the sound of her voice Jack looked up. His 
heart almost ceased beating, as he recognized 
the pretty Spanish girl — she who, he believed, 
owned the hatpin he was carrying about with him; 
the girl who had helped to take the treasure box. 

The girl was staring at him. Beneath her olivQ 
tinted skin a deep red surged. 

“Is — do you know — has the Dolphin sailed yet, 
can you tell me?” she asked. 

“The Dolphin sailed several days ago,” replied 
Jack, quietly, and, at his words the girl threw up 
her hands, and seemed greatly alarmed. 

“Don’t tell me that !” she pleaded. “It was not 
to sail until to-day! I was to go aboard her. I 
and my old nurse. Don’t tell me she has sailed 
without us!” 

“I’m afraid it’s true, if you are referring to the 
motor yacht Dolphin, bound for San Juan, or some 
port in Porto Rico,” added Jack. 

“That’s the one! That’s where I’m bound! 
Oh, and now I’m too late! What shall I do? 
What shall I do?” and, to Jack’s distress, the 
girl burst into tears. 

From the deck of the Sea Bird came a hail 
through a megaphone. 

“Hello, Jack! All aboard! Hurry back, the 
tide’s on the turn, and Captain Reeger wants to 
sail! All aboard, Jack!” 

Jack looked at the weeping girl, and waited. 


CHAPTER XIII 
jack's dilemma 

Many thoughts surged through the mind of 
Jack Ranger as he sat there in the little boat, lis- 
tening to the call of his chums from the deck of 
the Sea Bird , and hearing the sobbing of the beau- 
tiful girl, about whom there seemed to be such 
a mystery. What was he to do? 

“Do you want to go to Porto Rico, Miss — 
er ” began Jack. 

“Oh, so much!” she exclaimed, looking at him 
through tear-dimmed eyes. “But I — I seem to 
know you. I have seen you — Oh, where was it? 
I am so distressed I can’t remember!” 

“It was in Denton, where I live,” explained 
Jack, simply. “I saw you there in an ice-cream 

parlor, with — with your — brother, Miss ” he 

paused, hoping she would tell her name. 

“Oh, that was it!” she cried, almost like a 
child. “But why are you here? Oh, I forgot, 
you don’t know me, I am ” 

“Miss Manacca,” interrupted Jack. 

“Why, how do you know?” She was plainly 
surprised. 


1 23 


124 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“You registered at the Denton hotel.” 

“Oh, yes, I forgot, Manacca — ” she repeated 
the name as if it was rather an unfamiliar one. 
“My brother and I — Oh, yes, but now — Oh, he 
has sailed without me!” and she began weeping 
again. “I must have read the date wrong in 
his letter. I thought he said he was to sail to- 
day. Now he is gone. Oh, what shall I do?” 
and she threw her arms around the motherly- 
looking colored woman, who, by this time, after 
a panting and labored effort, had reached the 
float. 

“Oh, Musa, Musa!” cried the girl, “he has 
gone and left us — left us all alone in this big city ! 
What shall we do? What shall we do?” 

The colored woman, whose name was evidently 
Musa, clasped her fair charge in her ample arms, 
and murmured something in Spanish. Jack felt 
embarrassed. 

“Is there no other way you can get to Porto 
Rico?” he asked. “I think there are other vessels 
sailing there ” 

“Yes, for those who have money to pay their 
passage. But I have not. I had some money, 
but I was robbed of it on my way to New York, 
after having visited friends. “Oh, it was ter- 
rible of my brother to sail without me! He 
might have known I would come if he had only 
waited.” 


JACK’S DILEMMA 125 

“Perhaps he thought you had gone on ahead,”' 
ventured Jack, “or that, when you did not meet 
him, that you would follow later,” but he did not 
believe it. There seemed to be more of the mys- 
tery here, and the presence, on the Dolphin, of 
Lavine and Chowden only added to it. 

“He might have thought that,” said Miss Ma- 
nacca, hopefully, “for he knew that I had funds 
of my own — that is, I did have them,” she added 
ruefully. “My brother and I live in the city of 
Ponce, in Porto Rico,” she went on. “We came 
to the United States on — well, on business — and 
when about to depart for home, my brother ar- 
ranged with some new friends he met to take 
him back. He wrote me about them, and said 1 
was to accompany him. But I was delayed, pay- 
ing a visit to some friends after we left Denton, 
and I agreed to meet my brother in New York, 
and go with him on the Dolphin . But on the 
way here my pocket was picked by a thief, and 
all but a few dollars was taken. The police could 
not aid me. I hurried on, thinking to meet my 
brother here, but he has gone — gone and left me. 
I made a mistake in the date. I have no money, 
and I do not know a soul in that whole, big city,” 
and she waved a hand helplessly toward New 
York. “I am alone — friendless — forsaken, save 
for my old nurse, Musa. Oh, Musa! Musa! 
What shall we do? What can we do?” and, 


126 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

once more, she sobbed on the ample shoulders 
of the colored woman. 

Our hero was very much discomfited. He had 
had very little experience with pretty girls in 
tears. 

“If you want — and really have to get to Porto 
Rico ” began Jack. 

“All aboard! Say, are you going to stay chin- 
ning there all day?” yelled Sam, through the 
megaphone. “Come aboard, Jack! We want to 
sail.” 

Jack looked at the beautiful girl in distress. 

“Must you get to Porto Rico — soon?” he in- 
quired. 

“Yes, — oh, yes! But why do you ask? Is 
there a — a way?” 

“Some friends and myself are about to sail in 
a private yacht,” explained Jack. “There’s plenty 
of room, but no other ladies are aboard. Still, 
with your nurse as your companion ” 

“Oh, do you mean it? Is there really a chance 
for me to sail for Ponce?” she cried. “Can we 
go now — get in the boat with you?” 

“Yes,” replied Jack. “I think it will hold us 
r all and your luggage. But we are bound for San 
Juan — not Ponce.” 

“That is no matter. Ponce is only on the other 
side of the island, and once in dear Porto Rico 


JACK’S DILEMMA 127 

I can drive across. There is a fine road. Have 
you ever been in Porto Rico?” 

“Never,” confessed Jack. “I am going there 
now to ” 

He stopped suddenly. He had felt, in the 
pocket of his coat (its steel point well protected), 
the jeweled hatpin. 

“Oh, you will find Porto Rico most delightful,” 
went on the girl. “I shall be most happy to show 
you about — I and my brother.” 

Jack could not repress a grim smile. Consid- 
ering that he was going to the island to cause 
the arrest of Caleb Herkimer, and might prob- 
ably have to make quite a chase after the suspect, 
Jack felt that he would have little time to be 
shown about by the pretty Spanish girl. Still, he 
had hopes. 

“Are you coming, Jack Ranger?” demanded 
Bony’s voice through the megaphone. “We’re 
going to sail without you.” 

“Ranger? Is that your name?” asked the girl, 
as she got into the boat, while Musa, the nurse, 
piled in the luggage. 

“Yes,” answered Jack. 

“It’s rather odd,” commented the girl. “I have 
been to American schools, and Ranger means a 
sort of traveler — doesn’t it?” 

“Yes.” 

“Are you a traveler?” 


129 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Well, I’ve been about considerable,” admitted 
our hero. “But if you’ll sit a little to the left, the 
boat will trim better, Miss Manacca. We have 
rather a heavy load,” for the colored nurse with 
the luggage was in now. 

“Oh, is there any danger; do you think? I 
am so timid on the water, yet I love it. I hope 
your yacht is seaworthy.” 

“I think you will find her so.” 

Once more came the hail through the mega- 
phone, and, seeing that his two unexpected pas- 
sengers were safely aboard, Jack motioned for 
Hanson to row back. 

As the dinghy approached the side of the Sea 
Bird, Jack saw a row of curious faces peering 
down at him. 

“Oh, what a lovely boat!” exclaimed Miss Ma- 
nacca, getting a good view of the yacht. 

“Yes, it belongs to an uncle of a chum of 
mine,” explained Jack. At the same moment he 
heard the aforesaid chum remark to Bony and 
Nat: 

“For cats’ sake, look what Jack has picked up! 
Two women folks — and — by the great horn 
spoon! If one of ’em isn’t colored!” 

“And the other — the other — ” gasped Nat, as 
he caught a glimpse of Miss Manacca, “the other 
is the one ” 


“Bang!” Jack had taken up a spare oar, and 


JACK’S DILEMMA 129 

dropped it to the bottom of the dinghy with a 
crash. 

“By Jove! I hope she didn’t hear that!” 
thought Jack, turning around, and waving at his 
chums, in the vain hope of making them keep 
quiet. “I’ve got to get on deck first, and tip ’em 
off to keep mum,” he reasoned further. “Say, but 
I guess I’m in a dilemma, all right. If she ever 
suspects that we suspect or — rather, if she sus- 
pects that Nat, and some of the others think she’s 
the thief of my treasure box — there’ll be a big 
row sure! I don’t believe she knows anything 
about it. Her brother, either.” 

Once more Jack felt the hatpin in his pocket. 
How could he explain that? 

Nearer and nearer the dinghy approached the 
accommodation ladder of the motor yacht. The 
faces of Jack’s chums showed more and more 
astonishment. 

“Wait just a moment, and I’ll go up on deck, 
and arrange to have your baggage hoisted up, and 
also help you,” Jack said to Miss Manacca, but 
his real object was to get a moment’s headway, 
to warn his chums to keep silent. Our hero won- 
dered how they would take it, and how Sam would 
feel at having two unexpected women passengers 
on his uncle’s craft. But Jack was accustomed 
to carrying matters with a high hand. He knew 
he could manage Sam. 


I 3 0 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

He leaped upon the deck. His chums crowded 
around him. 

“For the love of tripe, Jack ” began Nat. 

“Stow your talk!” commanded Jack quickly. 
“Fellows, we’re going to solve a first-class mys- 
tery. Now, keep mum, every one of you. Below, 
waiting to make the voyage to Porto Rico with 
us, is the Spanish girl, and her nurse. Sam, go 
down and fix up the best cabin for Miss Manacca, 
and one next to it for her nurse. They’re going 
with us. Here, the rest of you help ’em up, and 
hoist their baggage.” 


CHAPTER XIV 

SAVED FROM THE SEA 

Jack Ranger gave his chums little chance for 
reflection. He wanted to get Miss Manacca, and 
her attendant in their cabins, and then he would 
explain. His method proved effective. 

“Well, you are a cool one,” murmured Sam. 
“The idea ” 

“Stow it, and get them and their luggage up 
here,” commanded Jack. “I’ll talk afterward. It 
was the only thing I could do. I couldn’t leave 
her alone — without a cent — in New York.” 

“No — especially as she’s such a pretty girl, and 
she may know something about your treas- 
ure ” began Nat. 

“Cut it out!” cried Jack. 

Two minutes later a rather timid young woman 
was shaking hands with Captain Reeger, while 
Jack explained the situation to the commander. 

“And will you really take me to Porto Rico?” 
she asked, with a trace of tears in her eyes as 
she gazed around on the circle of boys. 

“Of course we will!” exclaimed Captain Ree- 


i 3 2 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

ger, heartily. “That is, of course — I’m not the 
owner, but I imagine he ” 

“My uncle won’t care,” interrupted Sam, pleas- 
antly, “he said I could do as I liked with the 
yacht, short of wrecking it, and you — you’re as 
welcome as the flowers in May.” 

“Oh, what a pretty way of putting it!” ex- 
claimed Miss Manacca. “And they say Ameri- 
cans pay no compliments!” 

“He couldn’t help himself,” declared Jack, giv- 
ing Sam a sly nudge in the ribs. 

“Your stateroom is all ready,” said Nat, who 
had gone below to help Skeleton get some of the 
boys’ traps out of the room Jack had picked out 
as his own. Perhaps Nat considered it retribu- 
tive justice to depose Jack. But our hero did not 
mind in the least. 

The girl and her nurse were shown below, and 
their luggage piled in their adjoining staterooms. 
Then, when they were safely out of earshot, Sam 
turned to Jack, and demanded an explanation. 
He and the others got it in detail. 

“Of course, I suppose it was rather a risky 
thing to do — inviting her on board without speak- 
ing to you fellows first,” declared Jack, “but what 
was I to do? I couldn’t leave her there!” 

“Of course not — not after a couple of glances 
from her very effective eyes,” mocked Nat. “Oh, 
wait until I write to Mabel!” 


SAVED FROM THE SEA 


133 


“Cut it out!” cried Jack, half angrily. 

“It was the only thing to do,” decided Sam. 
“Of course we’ll take her to Porto Rico with us. 
It’s all right. We have plenty of room, and 
enough to eat. Only ” 

He paused, rather awkwardly. 

“Well?” asked Jack. 

“You know she is suspected of ” 

“Not a bit of it!” cried Jack. “Caleb Her- 
kimer has my treasure box, and I’ll get it away 
from him!” 

“But — her hatpin?” queried Nat. 

“Forget it,” advised Jack. “That will be ex- 
plained — in due time.” 

“Are you going to ask her about it?” inquired 
Bony. 

“I will — when I get ready,” answered Jack, 
and he felt in his pocket to see if he still had the 
pin safe. It pressed hard against his sides. Truth 
to tell, it lay also rather heavily on his heart. 
What was the meaning of it being found in the 
office where the safe had been looted? 

“Well, we must get under way,” said Captain 
Reeger, briskly, coming up to the boys. “Are you 
all ready?” 

“I guess so,” answered Sam, not very seaman- 
like, but to the purpose. 

“Then we’ll weigh anchor, and drop down,” 
went on the captain, and a few moments later the 


i 3 4 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

winch was bringing in the anchor chain. Slowly 
the Sea Bird swung around. Standing at the 
bridge, Captain Reeger gave the signal for half 
speed ahead. 

“We’re off 1” cried Sam, as the yacht began 
to gather headway. 

“Ho! for Porto Rico!” cried Jack. 

“And your treasure box!” added Nat. 

“Keep quiet!” exclaimed Jack, and not a mo- 
ment too soon for, an instant later, Miss Ma- 
nacca appeared on deck, in a trim yachting suit, 
looking most charming. 

“Oh, we have really started !” she cried. “How 
lovely! Soon I will be in dear old Ponce again! 
Oh, whatever would I have done had it not been 
for you, Mr. Ranger, and for your — your chums 
• — what a funny word,” and she laughed, a little 
silvery ripple. But, though she looked at all the 
lads, it was on Jack’s face that her bright eyes 
rested longest. “Did I hear you cry ‘Ho! for 
Porto Rico ?’ ” she asked. 

“Yes,” replied Jack, hoping she had not over- 
heard Nat’s remark. But her next question 
alarmed him. 

“And why are you going? Is it that you hope 
for pleasure there; or, as I overheard some one 
say, are you going to seek a treasure?” Jack’s 
heart nearly stopped beating. But he was re- 
assured a moment later, for the girl went on. “Oh, 


SAVED FROM THE SEA 


135 


you Americans! Always hoping for riches. But 
Porto Rico has none to give, save to those who 
work hard for them. We raise tobacco, sugar 

and some cattle on my island. But gold ” 

she shrugged her shoulders. “There is no treas- 
ure there, Mr. Ranger.” 

“Perhaps not,” and there was relief on Jack’s 
face. “But tell me more of the island,” and the 
girl swung into a description of the place, inter- 
esting alike to Jack, and his comrades who gath- 
ered around. 

Meanwhile the Sea Bird swung out of the an- 
chorage and was soon “footing” it down the har- 
bor, where were many crafts of many kinds. Out 
through the Narrows she went, her passengers 
taking in the sights and the forts on either side 
of the harbor; out past the shallow waters where 
clammers and lobster fishermen were busy, down 
past Atlantic Highlands in the distance, making 
the turn at Sandy Hook, where a glimpse could 
be had of the wonderful coast defenses there, and 
then straight on out to sea, and down the coast 
toward the goal of the voyage. 

“Oh, isn’t it delightful — wonderful! Almost 
as fine as Porto Rico !” exclaimed Miss Manacca, 
as she sat in a wicker chair under the after-awn- 
ing, with the boys around her. “New York — in 
fact all of America — is a wonderful place, but it 
is not Ponce! Ah, when shall I see it again?” 


136 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“What brought you and your brother to New 
York — and Denton?” asked Jack. 

“Oh, it was a mere accident that took us to 
your town — a most fortunate accident I am in* 
dined to think,” and the girl smiled frankly, show* 
ing two rows of white, even teeth. “I may as well 
tell you part of my story,” she went on. “My 
brother and I are the only survivors of an old 
Spanish family. We are — very poor,” and she 
laughed as she said it, so that Jack thought being 
poor was the most delightful thing in the world. 
“But my brother is always saying that we shall 
be rich some day.” 

“How?” asked Nat. 

“Through our inheritance. It seems that there 
is a large sum of money due us, but we cannot 
get it — at least until very recently it seemed that 
we never would. But now ” 

She paused, and gazed off to sea. 

“Now,” prompted Jack. 

“Well, my brother is now sure that we will 
get it. In fact, he almost has possession of it — 
I hope. He was to get it in New York, and we 
were to take it back to Porto Rico with us. But 
by my mistake in the date I missed him. I hope — • 
I trust — he has our inheritance safe, now. He 
has been seeking it for many years.” 

“And did that take him to Denton?” asked 
Jack, a curious suspicion taking possession of him. 


SAVED FROM THE SEA 


137 


“Well, not exactly,” answered the girl. “We 
went to Denton to see a man who, my brother 
thought, could assist us in some manner.” 

“And did he?” Jack was bending eagerly for- 
ward. 

“Yes, my brother and I saw him together, and 
— and — he really promised to get our inheritance 
for us. In fact he had it in his possession and 
was to give it to my brother in New York, and 
I believe he did. Otherwise my brother would 
not have sailed. Perhaps Rodnez was so excited 
over his good fortune, that he forgot about me. 
Rodnez is my brother,” she explained. “Yes, that 
must have been it, but I do not regret so much 
having been left, since I have found so — many 
good friends,” she finished with a laugh, and a 
look at all the boys. 

Jack said nothing, and, a minute later, Skeleton 
announced dinner. 

After the meal, life aboard the Sea Bird seemed 
to get into its regular groove. Matters regard- 
ing the management of the yacht were settled, 
staterooms were properly arranged (Jack taking 
a new one), the two machinists were divided into 
two shifts to run the motor, and Captain Reeger 
began making out his log. 

The boys were to do their share of navigating 
in fair weather, for Jack and Nat had some skill 
in this direction. Budge elected to help, both in 


138 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

the cooking and machinery departments, and 
would make himself generally useful. As for 
Musa, the colored attendant and former nurse 
of Miss Manacca, who explained that the aged 
woman had been in the family for two generations, 
she stayed below most of the time. Miss Manacca 
said that her nurse did not like the water. 

“But as for me!” exclaimed the girl, “I just 
love it!” and, as she stood on the deck, with her 
hair blowing in the wind, and her eyes sparkling, 
one could well believe her. 

In the well-lighted cabin that night they sat and 
talked, the Spanish girl proving herself a good 
entertainer, when she brought out her guitar, and 
played bewitching music, and sang. Captain Ree- 
ger made no preparations for retiring when the 
others proposed seeking their staterooms, though 
he had arranged with Jensen, the chief machinist, 
to take a trick at the wheel; for the motor, once 
it was running well, could get along with very 
little attention, or such as could be given by Budge 
Rankin, who, with a wad of gum in his mouth, had 
installed himself in the quarters with the small 
crew. 

“Why don’t you turn in?” asked Jack, when it 
was nearing midnight. 

“Well,” remarked the captain, soberly. “I 
don’t like the looks of the weather. I didn’t want 


SAVED FROM THE SEA 


139 

to say anything while Miss Manacca was present, 
but I’m afraid we’re in for a storm. 

His words were verified, when, after a night of 
pitching and tossing, for the sea was quite rough, 
the treasure-seekers arose, and saw a dull, leaden 
sky overhead, with inky clouds tearing along, 
while an occasional dash of rain gave promise of 
more unpleasantness. 

The Sea Bird was a steady boat for her size, 
but this was of little avail in the ever-increasing 
roughness of the sea; though the only ill person 
aboard was the colored woman, and she stretched 
out in her berth and moaned. As for Miss Ma- 
nacca, she insisted on remaining on desk, though 
Captain Reeger warned her that she had better 
go below. 

“Oh, I can’t!” she objected, with a pretty pout. 
“I just love a storm ! It thrills me ! Iam afraid 
of the sea, but I love it, and I’m not afraid in this 
boat, and — with you, Captain Reeger!” and she 
smiled brightly. 

“Thank you,” he said, as he consulted the chart 
under a glass near the steering wheel, “but I’m 
afraid that wouldn’t save you if a heavy sea came 
aboard, for we’re getting into a nasty gale now, 
and it will soon be worse.” 

The wind was increasing, though just then the 
rain was not much more than a “Scotch mist.” At- 
tired in a raincoat, and without a hat, the girl 


i 4 o JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

paced the deck. Jack and Nat were with her, 
watching the increasing seas and wondering what 
sort of a heavy-weather craft the yacht would 
prove herself. Bony began to feel a little squeam- 
ish, and had gone to his stateroom, while Sam, 
who was as “tough as nails,” as he expressed it, 
was taking lessons in managing a motor, from 
the two machinists. Budge was helping Skeleton 
in the galley. 

It was so rough that dinner had almost to be 
taken standing, and, at that, half the coffee was 
spilled from the cups. But the young people 
seemed to like it that way, and, once Captain Ree- 
ger found that the yacht was meeting the head 
seas well, and holding up under the battering, he 
grew more confident, and even condescended to 
tell some capital sea stories. 

It grew dark early, and, with the fall of dark- 
ness, which was only partly dispelled by the lights 
of the Sea Bird , the rain came down harder. But 
this had one good effect, for it somewhat quieted 
the seas, that, occasionally now, broke over the 
bows, sending a shower of spray as far back as 
the steering wheel. 

“You folks had better go below,” called Cap- 
tain Reeger when, having attired himself in oil- 
skins, he came up on deck after supper, to relieve 
Jensen. The commander addressed Jack and 
Miss Manaccaj who were standing together under 


SAVED FROM THE SEA 141 

the awning, on the small after-deck, where the 
chairs had long since been lashed fast to keep 
them from going overboard. “I think I’ll close 
everything down,” went on the captain, “and navi- 
gate from the main cabin. The wind is getting 
worse.” 

“Just a few minutes more, captain,” pleaded 
Miss Manacca. “It is glorious here. Isn’t it, Mr. 
Ranger?” 

“Fine!” cried Jack, who was taking in big 
mouthfuls of the salt air, and letting the rain dash 
in his bronzed face. 

Captain Reeger shrugged his shoulders. Re- 
peating his warning, he saw to it that such things 
as remained on deck were made snug, and then 
he went below, to direct the course of the vessel 
from there, an arrangement enabling him to steer, 
and look ahead, through a sort of pilot house built- 
in one side of the motor compartment. 

There seemed to come a sudden increase in 
the violence of the storm. Several big waves 
in succession made the trim little craft fairly stag- 
ger, but she poked her nose out from under the 
deluge of green water, and, shaking herself free, 
like a dog emerging from a stream, plunged on. 

“I hope my brother is enjoying his trip as much 
as I am this,” called Miss Manacca into Jack’s 
ear, for one had to shout to be heard above the 


142 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

wind. “Em afraid he isn’t though,” she added, 
“for he is a very poor sailor. But isn’t this mag- 
nificent!” and she looked around on the gloomy 
stretch of tumultuous waves. “I love it!” 

“So do I !” cried Jack. 

“Let’s go forward, where we can get a good 
view, and then we’ll go below,” proposed the 
girl, and her companion consented. They made 
their way with some difficulty, for the yacht was 
tossing and pitching most unpleasantly. Jack ex- 
tended his hand to help the Spanish girl, but, with 
a laugh she refused it. 

“I can manage!” she said. “Thank you, 
though.” 

They stood on the forward deck, ahead of the 
steering wheel. The rain beat down on the shelter 
over their heads, and the salt spray wetted them. 
Miss Manacca moved over toward the rail. 

“Be careful,” warned Jack, in a shout. “Not 
too close!” 

Hardly had he spoken than the Sea Bird gave 
a lunge to one side, in consequence of a big wave 
taking her quarteringly on the bow, and the deck 
slanted, almost like a porch roof. The girl lost 
her footing, and fell, sliding toward the frail bul- 
warks. 

At the same instant a big, green sea boarded 
the vessel, and drenched her. She gave one wild 


SAVED FROM THE SEA 143 

scream of fear, and Jack thought she had gone 
overboard. 

He fairly sprang forward, holding on to any- 
thing that met his grip, to avoid falling and fol- 
lowing the girl. Down under the deluge of water 
he plunged, and suddenly he felt the burden in 
his arms. Clasping her in a grip, as though he 
was tackling a man on the football field, running 
with the ball, Jack braced himself. Up against 
the bulwarks they came with a smash, but, some- 
how, he managed to interpose his body, so that 
he received most of the shock. 

Another big, green, frothing wave came rush- 
ing at them, for the head of the Sea Bird was now 
down under tons of water. Then, as she slowly 
staggered free, Jack managed to maintain his grip, 
winding one leg around a stanchion. Then, as 
the water ran off the slanting deck, and he cleared 
his eyes from its blinding salt, and caught his 
breath, he saw that he had saved the girl from 
the sea, though a gap in the top rail of the bul- 
warks showed him how narrow had been their 
escape. It had broken near where he crashed 
against it. 

“We — we’d better go below !” he shouted in the 
girl’s ear. 

Her face was white in the glare from a lantern 
that swayed with the motion of the yacht. 


144 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 


“You — you saved my life,” she replied, and 
Jack led her along the now more level deck to 
the companionway, while the storm, in a wilder 
burst of fury, howled and snarled all about the 
Sea Bird . 


CHAPTER XV 

JACK IS PUZZLED 

They staggered into the main cabin together, 
Jack and the girl whom he had saved from the 
fury of the sea. They were both dripping wet, 
and, as they entered Sam, Bony and Nat, who 
had been bracing themselves against the pitching 
and tossing of the yacht, sprang forward. 

“What’s the matter?” cried Nat. “Wiggling 
wild waves! You look as if something had hap- 
pened.” 

“Oh, what funny expressions!” cried Miss 
Manacca, laughing almost hysterically. “Some- 
thing did happen! If it had not been for Mr. 

Ranger ” she paused and looked at him. A 

tremor seized her. 

“It wasn’t anything at all,” interrupted Jack, 
who very much disliked having a “fuss” made over 
him. “It got a bit rough up on deck, a wave or 
two drenched us, and we decided to come below. 
That’s all.” 

“That’s all!” echoed the girl, reproachfully. 
Then, with a dramatic gesture, which, somehow 
seemed natural to her, with her fiery, Spanish na- 
145 


1 46 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

ture, she exclaimed: “Let me tell you, friends, 
that, though he says it so easily, had it not been 
for him I would be — out there !” and she pointed 
toward the tumbling storm-tossed ocean, which 
was heaving the small craft about like a chip. 
The girl shuddered, and almost whispered. “He 
saved my life, and he says it was — nothing!” 

There was a flash of her white teeth in a smile, 
and she raised her head imperiously. “Nothing?” 
she repeated, and she looked at Jack. “Then I 
am eternally your debtor, Senor, for saving — 
nothing,” and, with a toss of her head, and a 
flash of a smile, wreathed in her black locks, to 
which the sea water clung, sparkling, she turned, 
and hurried to her stateroom, the old nurse com- 
ing to meet her with a huge cloak in which she 
enfolded her charge. 

“Wow! You got yours all right, Jack,” com- 
mented Bony, and he cracked his finger knuckles 
so loudly that, in the cabin, the noise could be 
heard above the roar of the storm. 

“Don’t you know how to behave to a lady 
after you rescue her?” asked Nat. 

“You’ll have to take a correspondence school 
course of instruction in politeness,” added Sam. 
“The idea of saying it was ‘nothing.’ Oh, Jack!” 

“Oh, cheese it, fellows,” begged our hero, 
blushing. 

“You’d better get some dry clothes on,” spoke 


JACK IS PUZZLED 


147 


Captain Reeger, appearing in the cabin at that mo- 
ment. He had overheard in the small pilot house 
something that had taken place, and had called 
the chief machinist to relieve him for a while 
at the wheel. “I hope you didn’t run any risks, 
Jack — you or Miss Manacca.” 

“Well, it all happened so quickly, that I couldn’t 
tell whether we did or not. Anyhow, I’m glad 
it’s over. I guess we’ll stay below, after this, 
when there’s a storm like the present.” 

“It is bad,” admitted the captain, “but I have 
hopes that it will blow itself out before morning. 
It’s too furious to last long.” 

“How’s the Sea Bird behaving?” asked Sam. 

“Like a ‘bird,’ as you boys would say,” an- 
swered the captain. I haven’t had much experi- 
ence with gasolene-driven craft, but this one cer- 
tainly does all that could be desired. Well, I’ll 
get back to the wheel. Better get on dry gar- 
ments, Jack.” 

Jack was beginning to think so himself, as he 
was feeling chilly. He started toward his state- 
room, but, before he reached it, he was met by 
Budge Rankin carrying a cup of steaming hot 
coffee. 

“Thiss’lldoyougood,” announced Budge, all in 
a breath, for he was, once more, chewing gum. 
“ ’Fiwasyoul’drinktall.” 

“Oh, if you were me you’d drink it all, would 


148 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

you?” translated Jack. “Well, I’m much obliged, 
Budge. Here she goes,” and he sipped the hot 
beverage, which was most comforting. Then, 
attired in dry garments, Jack soon rejoined his 
companions in the cabin. 

His chums insisted on hearing more of what 
had happened on deck, and he was telling them, 
in a most disjointed and unsatisfactory fashion, 
when Miss Manacca, attired in a clinging sort of 
gown, came in, and insisted on finishing the story, 
as she said it ought to be told. It is needless to 
say that she made Jack out quite a hero, much 
to that young gentleman’s discomfiture. 

They sat about the cabin for some time longer, 
and then the old negro nurse, managing to select 
a time between her spasms of seasickness, ap- 
peared to “tote” her pretty charge off to bed. The 
boys said good night, and soon turned in to their 
bunks. As Jack was getting ready for his berth 
he looked at his side. There was a big bruise 
on it, and it was painful to touch. 

“I thought I gave that rail a pretty good 
whack,” he murmured. “I’ll be lame to-morrow.” 

He was, but he managed to conceal it from 
his friends. The storm had subsided in the night, 
though there was a long, uncomfortable swell on 
the ocean, as the yacht forged ahead. But the 
day was bright and fair, and, after breakfast, 
every one was in a jolly mood. They were making 


149 


JACK IS PUZZLED 

good time, and, as Jack noted the course dotted 
off on the chart, and glanced at the number of 
knots covered, he saw, in fancy, his arrival at 
Porto Rico, and the chase begun after the ras- 
cally Caleb Herkimer, and the treasure box. 

“But how do you imagine you’re going to trace 
him, after you get to the island?” asked Nat, 
following a talk with Jack about the matter. 

“Oh, I fancy Americans, carting around big 
boxes are not so numerous in Porto Rico, but 
what there will be many traces of Mr. Herkimer,” 
replied Jack. “The only thing I’m surprised at 
is that he should head for such a small place, when 
there are so many larger islands — like Cuba, for 
instance.” 

“All the better for you,” remarked Nat. .“I 
hope we land him, and get back the ” 

“Easy,” cautioned Jack, for he saw Miss Ma- 
nacca coming up the companionway. 

The girl was in a laughing, jolly mood, and, 
after a turn or two about the deck, she proposed 
that they have a game of ring-toss, which was 
eagerly agreed to by the boys. 

“Mr. Ranger and I will play Mr. Balmore and 
Mr. Anderson,” announced the Spanish girl, with 
a smile at Jack. She seemed to think herself in 
duty bound to link herself with him, yet there was 
nothing silly in her real affection, for it was the 
sincere admiration of a girl who recognized that 


150 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Jack had saved her life. As Sam was down in 
the cabin, looking over some ship’s papers with 
Captain Reeger, and as Budge was at the wheel, 
this left the three boys and Miss Manacca for the 
game. 

It began merrily, and was carried merrily to 
the end. Jack and the girl won, much to her de- 
light, for the game was a new one to her. Then 
they sat about the deck, and looked off across 
the blue ocean, occasionally seeing a passing vessel. 

All that day the Sea Bird forged ahead. The 
sea grew more calm, until it was pure delight to 
sit under the after-awning and feel the swift mo- 
tion of the little yacht, and watch the slow lifting 
and falling of the billows. The boys, attired in 
natty white suits, roamed about, attending to some 
light tasks they had elected to do, now paying a 
visit to the motor compartment, now gazing 
through powerful glasses at some distant sail, or 
watching a school of porpoises which disported 
themselves in the water. 

It was on the third day out, when, toward the 
close of a fine afternoon Jack, Nat and Sam sat 
on the cushioned bench, near the forward transom 
of the trunk cabin. Sam was steering, an easy 
task, since the Sea Bird minded her helm most 
beautifully. There was no one else on deck at 
that time, Miss Manacca having gone below after 
a jolly game of ring-toss. 


JACK IS PUZZLED 15 1 

“Well, it won’t be long before we’re there,” 
Sam was saying, “and we may have the good luck 
to capture that Herkimer fellow, Jack. But what 
puzzles me is how you are going to prove that he 
has your box. You say you and Nat didn’t take 
off the outside wrapping paper. You don’t know 
what the chest itself looks like, and Mr. Herki- 
mer — if he has it — can say that it’s his box, and 
defy you to prove otherwise.” 

“No, he can’t,” answered Jack, quietly. 

“Why not?” 

“Well, because in the first place there is only 
one box like mine. I have a full description oi 
it in the papers that the old Spaniard gave to dad. 
Besides, the box has a name.” 

“A name — what name?” asked Nat. “I never 
heard of a treasure box with a name.” 

Jack thought he heard a noise in the cabin be- 
low him — a noise like the rustling of woman’s 
garments, that floated up through the opened tran- 
som. He looked down, but could see nothing. 

“Not so loud, Nat,” Jack cautioned. “I’ve told 
you I don’t want Miss Manacca to know anything 
of our quest, and ” 

“And that she is ” began Nat, half jokingly. 

“Stop it!” commanded Jack. 

“But about your treasure box,” went on Sam. 
“What is it christened?” 


152 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“It is known as the ‘Fernandez’ box,” was the 
answer. “It appears from the papers dad gave 
me, that it has been in the possession of the Fer- 
nandez family, or some representatives of it, for 
many years. But they are all dead, according to 
the documents, and so the Fernandez treasure 
box passed into the keeping of old Miguel Montez, 
who gave it to dad. Now it’s up to me to get the 
Fernandez treasure box into the possession of the 
Ranger family, and if I do, you can wager it won’t 
go out of my hands until I at least see what’s in it.” 

Jack had spoken more loudly than he intended, 
and, as he concluded his little speech, he thought 
he heard a stifled cry in the main cabin. Startled, 
he turned to look down through the transom. The 
cabin was empty. 

“Well, I don’t know how you fellows feel about 
it,” said Nat, after a pause, “but I’m going to 
interview Skeleton, and see how near it is to grub- 
time. I’m hungry.” 

i “So am I. Hustle it up,” added Sam. 

Jack turned toward the west. The sun was 
just going down in a bank of golden-red and olive- 
tinted clouds. It was a most beautiful sight, and 
a more gorgeous sunset than he had witnessed 
since they had started on their cruise. 

“Isn’t that magnificent!” exclaimed Jack. 
“Look, fellows. It’s wonderful !” 


JACK IS PUZZLED IS3 

“Supper would be more wonderful,” spoke Nat, 
unfeelingly. 

“Brute — beast!” ejaculated Jack, earnestly. 
“I’ll go tell Miss Manacca to come on deck and 
enjoy it with me. She has a soul for such things.” 

Without waiting for any comments from his 
chums, Jack descended the companionway, and 
knocked on Miss Manacca’s stateroom door. 

“Who — who is there?” came her voice, hesi- 
tatingly, from the other side of the portal. 

“Come on deck, and see a most wonderful sun- 
set,” invited Jack. 

There was no answer. 

“It will be gone, if you don’t hurry,” he called, 
thinking she had not heard him. 

“I — I don’t want to see it,” came the reply, and 
this time Jack heard an unmistakable sob. “Go — 
go away,” the tearful voice of the girl went on. 
“Go away, please, Mr. Ranger!” 

“What’s the matter?” cried Jack, for the voice 
had ended in a burst of tears. “Are you ill? Is 
there anything the matter? Shall I call your 
nurse? Is there anything I can do?” 

“You — you can go away and — and leave me 
alone !” was the unexpected answer. “Oh, please 
don’t question me. I — I can’t explain — Oh, I’m 
so — miserable!” and this time there came heavy 
sobs. Jack turned aside, puzzled, and not a little 
alarmed. 


154 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Not half an hour before Miss Manacca had 
been laughing and joking with him on deck, and 
now — Jack shrugged his shoulders. How was he 
to understand the moods of this girl? 


CHAPTER XVI 


THE DERELICT DESTROYER 

Jack went back on deck, his mind still wonder- 
ing over the queer conduct of the Spanish girl. 
He could not imagine what had so changed her, 
unless the loneliness of her situation, and the 
desire to be with her brother had brought on a fit 
of melancholia. And this did not seem natural, 
since she had been gay and happy up to within a 
few minutes. Nor could she have been ill, or 
she would have summoned her faithful attendant. 
Jack gave it up, and resolved to say nothing about 
it to his chums. 

Miss Manacca did not appear at supper that 
evening, and, in answer to the questioning looks 
of his companions (for they seemed to think he 
ought to know the reason) Jack ventured the guess 
that their fair passenger had a “headache.” 

It was not until the next afternoon that the 
girl appeared. The boys were on the after-deck, 
talking and laughing, and, when Jack saw her 
coming, he hastened forward to meet her, for the 
yacht was pitching slightly. 

“Oh, I can manage, thank you,” she said, 
i55 


156 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

brightly, and with something of a return of her 
former manner. “I feel like a prisoner that has 
just escaped. Isn’t it glorious up here — after 
having been in a cabin nearly a whole day?” 

“I trust you are better,” ventured Jack. 

“Somewhat,” she answered, and her black eyes 
flashed a peculiar look at him. “I hope you didn’t 

think it rude of me ” she went on, in a lower 

voice, intended for his ears alone. “I didn’t 
mean to ” 

“Of course not,” Jack hastened to assure her. 
“I — I understand.” He didn’t in the least, but 
he thought it best to pretend that he did. “I’m 
glad you are better,” he went on. 

“Yes,” she answered, non-committally. “Oh, 
how lovely it is up here! How much longer 
before we reach Porto Rico?” she asked suddenly, 
addressing the boys generally. 

“Hard to tell,” answered Sam. “The motor 
is doing good work, but it’s one of those things 
you never can depend on. We may pick it up in 
a couple of days, or we may not for a week, ac- 
cording to the wind, and whether or not the motor 
breaks down.” 

“Oh, you don’t think we will have any more 
storms, do you?” and the girl looked alarmed. 
“And is the motor — the engine — going to break?” 

“We hope not,” answered Jack quickly, wink- 
ing at Sam to warn him to avoid making such re- 


THE DERELICT DESTROYER 


157 


marks in the future. “I think we will reach Porto 
Rico in about a week — that is if we have no 
delays.” 

“Oh, I hope we have none!” exclaimed the girl, 
fervently. “I am so anxious to get back to my 
home.” 

They sat on deck and talked for some little 
time, and, after a bit, Miss Manacca seemed to 
be more like her former jolly self. She laughed 
and sang, to the accompaniment of her guitar. 

That evening, when she and Jack happened 
to be alone on the deck, for there was a beautiful 
moon, and no one wanted to turn in, Miss Ma- 
nacca said: 

“Mr. Ranger, I wish you would answer me 
truthfully one question.” 

“What is it?” inquired Jack, his heart beating 
strangely. He felt in his pocket to see if the hat- 
pin was still there. Could it be in reference to 
that? A moment later she went on: 

“Will you tell me exactly why you are going 
to Porto Rico?” 

Jack started, and his hand came in contact 
with the guitar, which was on a camp stool. There 
was a musical twanging of the strings. 

“Why do you ask that?” he wanted to know. 

“Because I have serious reasons.” 

“I — I can’t tell you,” was Jack’s hesitating an- 
swer, and, with a half-reproachful look at him, 


158 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Miss Manacca took up her instrument and went 
to her stateroom. 

It was toward noon the next day, when Hanson, 
the assistant engineer, was standing near the bell, 
waiting to mark the hour, that he called out: 

“Sail ho !” 

“Where ?” asked Captain Reeger quickly. 

“Dead ahead,” was the answer. “It’s a 
steamer.” 

“Bring me the glasses,” ordered the com- 
mander, and when he had looked through them 
he uttered an exclamation. 

“Here, boys, is something worth seeing,” he 
called to Jack and his chums, who were grouped 
about Miss Manacca on the after-deck. 

“What is it?” cried Nat. “Petrified persim- 
mons ! Don’t tell me it’s a whale ?” 

“Something almost as rare in these waters,” 
went on Captain Reeger. “That is the United 
States derelict-destroying vessel, Seneca . She goes 
about, hunting for half submerged wrecks, and, 
when found, blows them up with a charge of 
gun cotton.” * 

“High-stepping hippopotamuses!” cried Nat. 
“I wish we could see them destroy one.” 

“I think we can,” the captain cautioned. “They 
are evidently about to blow up one now, as nearly 
as I can make out through these glasses. There 
is some big object, low in the water, near the 


THE DERELICT DESTROYER 


159 


vessel, and small boats are around it. I think we 
can afford to delay a bit and take a look. What 
do you boys say? It’s up to you.” 

“Sure,” said Sam, who was looked to as the 
owner’s representative aboard. “Eh, Jack?” 

“Of course. It will be worth seeing.” 

The Sea Bird , which was headed directly for 
the derelict destroyer, was speeded up somewhat, 
as the motor had been slowed down to about 
three-quarters of its limit, and soon, without the 
aid of the glasses, the half-submerged wreck could 
be seen. It was lying under the quarter of the 
Seneca ) and small boats could be seen plying from 
one craft to the other. 

“The sailors are placing charges of gun cotton 
in the derelict hull,” Captain Reeger explained. 
“When there’s enough in to blow apart the wreck, 
and sink it, so that it will no longer be a menace 
to navigation, the small boats will withdraw, after 
a fuse has been lighted, and the government ship 
will get out of danger. Then you’ll see a strange 
sight.” 

“Isn’t it dangerous?” asked Miss Manacca, 
who was as interested as were the boys. 

“Yes, extremely so, for it’s no easy matter to 
carry charges of gun cotton in a small boat up to 
a floating wreck, and plant it where it will do the 
most good. Besides the danger of the explosive 
going off prematurely, there is the hard work and 


i6o JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

risk in making a suitable opening in the wreck to 
admit the insertion of the gun cotton. Often sev- 
eral trials are necessary before a wreck is blown 
up enough so that it will sink. Some of the dere- 
licts float about for many months.” 

“How do they find them?” asked Bony. 

“Oh, ship captains report the location of them 
to the government, and the destroyer is sent out 
to cruise around in the neighborhood where the 
Wreck was last seen. But, in the meanwhile, a 
storm, or the ocean currents, may have carried 
it hundreds of miles away.” 

“Then what does the destroyer do?” Sam in- 
quired. 

“Hunts about until it picks up the wreck,” re- 
plied Mr. Reeger. “It is tiresome, dangerous 
and weary work, but very necessary. Many a 
good ship has met her doom by crashing into a 
half-submerged wreck in the darkness or fog, or, 
in the case of one just awash, in the day time. 
Lumber vessels are the worst, for they float so 
long, on account of the nature of their cargo, and 
it is hard to destroy them, even with gun cotton.” 

By this time the Sea Bird was within easy see- 
ing distance of the wreck, and the destroyer. 
Sailors could be observed on the upturned bottom 
of the wreck, chopping holes in the hull, for it had 
iturned turtle. Other boats were bringing up sup- 


THE DERELICT DESTROYER 161 

plies of gun cotton, for many hundreds of pounds 
are often used to blow up a single wreck. 

Suddenly some signal flags were run up on the 
mast of the government vessel, and Captain Res- 
ger answered with blasts from the whistle. 

“What’s that for?” asked Jack. 

“They’re warning us to keep away,” was the 
reply. “I guess we’re close enough as it is. There’s 
quite a disturbance of the sea when the explosion 
takes place. We’ll slow down, and watch. They 
must be about ready to blow it up.” 

The Sea Bird was barely moving on the water. 
The boys, and Miss Manacca, eagerly watched 
the operations of the sailors, and Budge even 
forgot to chew his gum. In a short time all the 
small boats began leaving the vicinity of the wreck. 
The sailors boarded the steamship, which, with 
warning blasts of her whistle, began to move away 
from the derelict that was about to be blown up. 


CHAPTER XVII 

AN ACCIDENT 

The two vessels — the United States derelict 
destroyer and the pleasure yacht — were so close 
that the commands from the former could plainly 
be heard aboard the Sea Bird. 

“Is everything clear?” called the commander of 
the Seneca to some one, evidently well forward, 
who was keping a watch on the wreck. 

“Aye, aye, sir,” came the prompt response. 

' “Can you see the fuse burning?” 

“Aye, aye, sir.” 

“Then we’ll get farther back.” 

The destroyer gathered sternway, and began 
to swing about in a broad circle. Then the offi- 
cer in charge caught sight of the Sea Bird. 

“What vessel is that?” he called through a 
megaphone. 

Captain Reeger answered, giving the necessary 
information. 

“You must get farther off,” came the warning. 
“We have put a very heavy charge in the wreck, 
and there’s bound to be a lot of water raised, and 
162 


AN ACCIDENT 163 

quite a swell. Stand well away, and don’t get too 
close to us.” 

“All right,” answered Captain Reeger, and he 
signalled to the motor room for full speed astern. 

The eyes of all aboard the Sea Bird , as well as 
those on the government ship, were now fixed on 
the wreck. Soon it would be nothing but splinters 
of wood, and a mass of twisted iron and steel, 
and would sink to the bottom. 

“I wonder what vessel it was?” mused Miss 
Manacca, who was at Jack’s side. “Perhaps the 
sailors once aboard her were all killed or drowned. 
What an unwritten tragedy is before us!” 

“Yes,” answered Jack, wondering at the un- 
usually sad tone in the girl’s voice. “But we will 
soon see the end of it. I guess it must be about to 
go off. The government vessel is slacking speed to 
watch the result.” 

The destroyer was now almost motionless on 
the water, and Captain Reeger, thinking that he, 
too, was far enough off, gave the signal to lay to, 
and stop the motor. 

As he did so there came a hail from the larger 
ship, but as the wind was blowing from the Sea 
Bird to the destroyer, the words could not be made 
out. 

“What’s he saying?” asked Jack. 

“I don’t know,” replied Captain Reeger, “un- 
less he’s telling us that the explosion is about to 


164 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

take place. Now watch, every one, and you’ll see 
a curious sight.” 

Hardly had he spoken than there came a dull 
rumble, and it sounded as if it was thundering 
under water. There was a tremor to the pleasure 
yacht, and it swayed slightly. 

Then a black cloud seemed to shoot straight up 
into the air from the location of the wreck. It 
was like a great geyser — a gigantic fountain of 
water that foamed and bubbled into whiteness as 
it spouted upward, the central part one vast, solid 
column, while on the outer circumference there 
was a spray, the sun turning the drops into minia- 
ture rainbows. 

“Cracking centipedes ! There she goes !” cried 
Nat. 

“That’s the end of her,” added Jack, more 
solemnly. 

There was a roar, as the confined gases gener- 
ated by the exploding gun cotton rushed up from 
beneath the surface of the water, and then, as 
the wreck disappeared from view in a tumultuous 
backward rush, and falling of the water, a gigantic 
wave, caused by the disturbance, swept toward 
the government vessel and the Sea Bird. 

“Look out!” shouted Captain Reeger. “Hold 
fast everybody! This may swamp us!” 

Above the subsiding roar of the rushing waters 
could be heard a frantic hail from the United 


AN ACCIDENT 


165 

States vessel, but what was said could not be dis- 
tinguished. The great wave was now almost 
upon the yacht, and was about to quarter it, for 
with no steerageway, her head could not be put 
about to meet it. 

Captain Reeger leaped to the steering wheel, 
and frantically shoved the telegraph lever over to 
“full speed ahead.” There was a jangle of bells, 
and, down in the motor room, Jensen, the machin- 
ist, threw over the levers, and the big fly wheel 
began to revolve. 

But it was too late to get into motion, and a 
moment later the big wave fairly snapped the 
Sea Bird on her port quarter, slewing her around, 
and all but tossing her on her beams’ ends. Masses 
of water came aboard, and sloshed around, wet- 
ting the passengers, who, instinctively clung to 
the nearest supports. 

The steering wheel, which Captain Reeger 
grasped, was nearly torn from his hands, so strong 
was the sudden action of the rush of water on 
the rudder, but, with a quick motion, he wrenched 
it around. 

By this time the motor had begun to forge the 
yacht ahead, and it swung with bow squarely on 
to meet a succession of smaller waves which fol- 
lowed the large one. 

Like some strong swimmer, staggered by the 
first onslaught of the breakers, the Sea Bird shook 


1 66 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

herself free from the masses of green ocean, and 
forged ahead. Swiftly she bore down on the gov- 
ernment vessel, which had ridden out the upheaval 
to better advantage, on account of her size. 

“Look out where you’re going!” came a hail 
from the derelict destroyer. “You’ll run us down 
in a moment!” 

“As if I didn’t know how to steer!” said Cap- 
tain Reeger to Jack. 

He twisted the wheel around, at first with an 
assurance that it would quickly change the course 
of the yacht, and then, as he felt, instinctively, 
that something was wrong, the captain frantically 
spun it to port. But the Sea Bird ignored her 
helm, and bore straight on toward the Seneca . 

“Look out! Look out!” cried the commander 
of the government vessel. “You’ll foul me in 
another second!” 

Frantically Captain Reeger twisted the wheel. 
He could not change the course of the yacht. 

“We’ve had an accident!” he cried to Jack and 
Sam, who sprang forward to aid him. “Our steer- 
ing gear is broken,” and he shoved the lever of 
the telegraph over to “full speed astern.” 

The Sea Bird had been disabled by the explo- 
sion that had destroyed the derelict. 


CHAPTER XVIII 

LIMPING TO PORT 

Slowly the yacht ceased to move toward the 
derelict destroyer. She came to a stop and then, 
under the force of the powerful screw, which 
was racing around to pull her back, she began 
to gather sternway, and slid out of any danger of 
a collision. 

“What’s the matter?” asked a gold-laced and 
uniformed officer from the bridge of the Seneca . 

“Steering gear’s out of commission,” responded 
Captain Reeger. “That big wave did it, I fancy.” 

“I was afraid you were drawing too close,” went 
on the uniformed officer. “But can we give you 
any assistance? I’ll send my first lieutenant 
aboard, and perhaps he can show you how to 
patch up. We’re used to doing all sorts of odd 
jobs. I’ll send a boat.” 

“Thanks,” replied Captain Reeger, and calling 
Jensen, the chief machinist, the commander went 
aft to see what the damage was, instructing Sam, 
Jack and the others to lower the accommodation 
ladder, and be ready to receive the lieutenant and 
his helpers, when they should arrive. 

The lieutenant proved to be a young chap, not 
167 


1 68 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

long out of Annapolis, but he knew his business, 
and, looking over the damaged steering gear, an- 
nounced that while he could repair it temporarily 
the Sea Bird would have to put back into port to 
have a lasting repair job made. 

“Put back into port!” echoed Jack, in dismay. 

“Yes,” answered the lieutenant. “It wouldn’t 
be safe to make much of a voyage with the gear 
in such shape as I can put it temporarily.” 

“But we don’t want to go all the way back to 
New York,” said Nat. 

“We have important business in Porto Rico,” 

went on Jack. “We want to catch ” He 

stopped, for, at that moment, he saw Miss 
Manacca coming up the companionway. There 
was a curious look on her face. 

“Oh, I didn’t mean to go back to New York,” 
the lieutenant replied. ‘“You are about two hun- 
dred and fifty miles off Charleston harbor now. 
If you put in there you will be able to get fixed 
up in good shape.” 

“But the delay!” complained Jack. 

“It won’t be so much,” broke in Captain Ree- 
ger. “I intended to put in at St. Augustine, any- 
how, for more gasolene, as the motor uses more 
than I thought she would, and our supply is run- 
ning low. Now we can get it at Charleston, and, 
at the same time, have the steering gear fixed. 
We won’t lose so much time.” 


LIMPING TO PORT 


169 

There was no help for it, and, after the lieu- 
tenant and his men from the Seneca had assisted 
Captain Reeger and his machinists in making tem- 
porary repairs, it was found that the Sea Bird 
Would once more answer her helm. 

“But you’ll have to run slowly,” cautioned the 
lieutenant “It’s only a poor job at the best. 
Ton’ll have to limp into Charleston harbor.” 

And “limp” the yacht did. The lieutenant and 
his crew returned to the destroyer, carrying the 
thanks of Jack and his chums, and then, amid the 
waving of farewells the Sea Bird turned about, 
and made for the South Carolina city. 

“Is — is it anything dangerous?” asked Miss 
Manacca, when they were well under way again. 
“Do you think we are in any danger, Mr. 
Ranger?” 

“None at all,” Jack assured her. “It will only 
delay us a few days.” 

“And are you very anxious to get to Porto 
Rico?” she asked. 

“Yes,” said Jack, “and — so are you; aren’t 
you?” 

“Surely, for I want to learn how my brother 
fared in getting back our inheritance. I am so — 
so anxious. You know it is not pleasant to be — 
poor! But I have become almost used to it by 
this time. 

Though the girl was more like what she had 


170 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 


been when she first came aboard, Jack was puzzled 
about her, and he wondered what connection her 
hatpin, found near the looted safe, had with the 
theft of his treasure box. But he had to give up 
trying to find a solution. 

Several days were consumed in making the trip 
to Charleston, as they went slowly on account of 
the break in the gear, but the temporary repairs 
seemed to be holding well. 

Jack and his companions did considerable work 
about the yacht, even to swabbing down the decks, 
helping clean and oil the motor, keeping the bright 
work polished, and other tasks which Captain 
Reeger allowed them to perform. 

The schoolboy yachtsmen took readily to the 
self-imposed labors, even if they were not the 
most pleasant, and the members of the crew won- 
dered why the lads seemed to like such work. 

“I’ll tell you why,” replied Jack, when one of 
the machinists ventured to speak of it. “There’s 
nothing like doing a thing yourself; eh, Sam?” 

“No, indeed. If I had my way we fellows 
would run this yacht all alone.” 

“Yes, run her into Davy Jone’s locker, I guess,” 
remarked Nat. 

“Not much !” cried Jack, with energy. “Didn’t 
we have some experience on the Polly Ann f Now 
we’re getting more, and it will be good for us.” 

“In case there should be a mutiny aboard,” put 


LIMPING TO PORT 


171 

In Sam, “we fellows could take command, and 
sail to some port. That is, we could if we knew 
how to navigate, and I think we could pick that 
up in time. I’m going to ask Captain Reeger to 
show us how it’s done.” 

The lads made this request later, and the com- 
mander gave them some lessons in using the quad- 
rant and other instruments for working out a 
reckoning. The boys made out fairly well, and 
were so fascinated by the science that they were 
on hand every noon, when the observation was 
taken. 

“Hello, Skeleton!” called Sam one afternoon, 
as he saw the stout cook strolling slowly along the 
deck. “I say, Skeleton, why don’t you be a little 
more polite to Musa, the chaperone with Miss 
Manacca. I haven’t seen you talking to her hardly 
any.” 

“Ah done did ast her ef she didn’t want t’ set out 
in de moonshine one night,” confessed the knight 
of the galley. 

“What’d she say?” asked Bony, snapping his 
knuckles in rapid succession. 

“She didn’t say nuffin,” confessed Skeleton. 
“She jes’ up an’ fetch me such a box on mah ear 
dat I done feel it yet,” and he rubbed the side of 
his head reflectively. “I guess she didn’t under- 
stan’ United States talk,” he went on. 

“Maybe it’s a Spanish sign that a person loves 


172 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

you, when they hit you a clip on the ear,” sug- 
gested Jack. 

“Den I doan’t want t’ be lubbed!” exclaimed 
Skeleton, vigorously. “ ’Scuse me,” he added 
quickly, “I done guess mah potatoes am burnin’,” 
and he made a hasty exit. The reason was plain 
a moment later, for the colored woman came up 
on deck. She had gotten the better of her sea- 
sickness, and wanted a breath of air. 

The Sea Bird skimmed along at slightly in- 
creased speed, and soon the shore line became 
more pronounced. By means of glasses Charles- 
ton harbor could be made out, and it rapidly grew 
more plain. 

“We’ll be there before dark,” said Captain 
Reeger, “for which I’m glad. We can dock, and 
get at the repairs the first thing in the morning.” 

The sun broke from beneath some clouds, form- 
ing a gorgeous scene, and Jack, who felt that he 
had rather slighted Miss Manacca of late, seeing 
that she was not on deck, went below to ask her to 
come up and view the sights. 

Her stateroom door was slightly ajar, and Jack 
knocked softly. There was no answer, and, think- 
ing she might have fallen into a doze, he pushed 
the portal slightly. The room was untenanted, 
but it showed evidences of its occupant having 
recently left. 

“Perhaps she went up by the forward compan- 


LIMPING TO PORT 


173 


ionway,” said Jack. As he turned aside, he saw, 
lying on the floor of the stateroom, a small, leather 
handbag, such as women use for the carrying of 
various articles. It was an expensive one, and, 
fearing it might be stepped on, Jack entered the 
apartment, and picked it up, intending to place 
it on the dresser. As he turned the bag over he 
saw, in brass letters on the side, the initials of 
the owner. But, to his surprise, instead of being 
M. M., or Maximina Manacca, the letters were 
L. F. 

“L. F ” murmured Jack. “L. F. ! What can 
they stand for, I wonder? She said her name was 
Manacca, and yet — L. F. ” 

He stood puzzling over the matter, looking 
down at the bag in his hand, when a step sounded 
outside the stateroom, and, before he could turn, 
Miss Manacca entered. She started back at the 
sight of Jack. 

“You — -you — here?” she gasped. 

“I came to call you on deck to see the sunset,” 
he answered. “I saw this on the floor, and picked 
it up for fear it might be stepped on. Is it yours ?” 

He extended it toward her, with the initials up- 
permost. The girl hesitated a moment, looked 
fearlessly at Jack and then at the handbag. 

“It is mine,” she said simply. 


CHAPTER XIX 

THE STRANGE VESSEL 

For several seconds neither of the two in the 
small stateroom spoke. Jack did not know what 
to remark, and, as for the girl, who shall say 
what varying emotions swayed her? Her cheeks 
flushed red under the dark skin. She took the bag 
from Jack’s hand, and laid it on the dresser. 

“Is — is the sunset worth seeing?” she asked. 

“Yes,” he replied, with an effort, “and we are 
coming into Charleston harbor.” 

“Oh, then I must go up on deck,” she cried. 
“I was in my nurse’s room for a few minutes. 
Come, Mr. Ranger, we will go up.” 

She seemed to have regained her usual spir- 
its, and, with an inviting gesture, she held out her 
hand to Jack. With a little bow, and a smile, he 
took it, and led her to the companionway. It was 
like the declaring of an armistice, he thought. 

“How glad I shall be to see land once more,” 
the girl went on. “I’m afraid I’m getting tired 
of the sea — but not much,” she added quickly. 
“One could not weary of it on this beautiful vessel, 
and with such charming shipmates,” and she made 
a little bow to Jack. 


i74 


THE STRANGE VESSEL 


175 


He was puzzled, worried — he did not know 
what to think; yet the girl seemed more at ease 
than ever, even though Jack had fairly caught her 
masquerading under an assumed name, or, if not 
that, she had a handbag not her own. Which 
was it? Jack shrugged his shoulders? 

They reached the deck. The harbor was loom- 
ing up in sight now, and the lighthouse and life- 
saving station at the entrance could be seen. It 
was still quite a run up the bay to the city proper. 
The sun was painting the clouds in a glorious 
combination of pink, olive green and purple, and 
the water reflected the wonderful tints. 

“Oh, isn’t it beatuiful!” cried Miss Manacca, 
as she stood on the after deck, and gazed across 
the bay, while Jack and his chums, looking from 
the girl, off at the sunset, and back again, thought 
that the scene from nature was not half so fine as 
the picture the Spanish beauty made as she stood 
there, with the wind blowing her hair about. 

They made good time up to a dock, and learned 
on inquiry that, nearby, there were repair facili- 
ties, so at dusk they made fast, just as Skeleton 
announced that supper was ready. 

“And none too soon,” declared Nat. “Wob- 
bling window blinds ! I could eat a bit of stewed 
whale, with seaweed dressing.” 

“Hurry up and have grub,” advised Sam, “and 
then we’ll go on shore. I want to stretch my legs. 


176 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“That’s so,” put in Jack, “I guess we will have 
time to mosy about.” 

“And send some telegrams to the folks,” added ^ 
Bony. 

“Are you coming, Budge?” asked Nat, for the 
odd lad had not spoken. 

“Guessl’llstayere,” was the jumbled answer. 

“Stay here? What for?” asked Jack. 

“ ’Fraidl’llgetlost. Anyhow, I’m tired,” and 
Budge got rid of one wad of gum, and prepared 
5o insert a fresh supply, which accounted far his 
last sentence being spoken more plainly. 

“Well, do you want us to get anything for you 
— or mail any letters?” asked Jack. 

“Nobody’llwritet’me,” replied Budge, that be- 
ing his version of “nobody will write to me.” The 
inference was plain; he would write to no one. 
Budge was an orphan, with no near relatives, and 
letter-writing was not one of his duties. 

“Well, is there anything you want?” asked Nat. 

“S’moregum,” was all Budge said, but they all 
knew what he meant. 

Captain Ranger went ashore after supper, to 
make arrangements for the repair of the steer- 
ing gear, and the boys accompanied him. Miss 
Manacca remained on board with her attendant, 
saying she was too tired to visit the city, but might 
go the next day. 

The boys, who soon separated from Captain 


THE STRANGE VESSEL 


1 77 


OReeger, found Charleston an interesting enough 
place, though it could not be seen to advantage at 
night, even if there was a brilliant moon. But 
they strolled about, after sending some souvenir 
postals home, and buying some gum for Budge 
Rankin. 

“Now, I’ll stand treat for ice-cream sodas,” 
called Jack, when they were thinking of return- 
ing to the Sea-Bird. 

“Good !” cried Sam. “It’s about time you loos- 
ened up, Jack. I was beginning to think you were 
going to wait until you got your treasure box be- 
fore you ” 

Jack, with a quick motion, sprang to Sam’s side* 
and grasped him by the arm. They were turning 
a street corner at the time, and three men had 
just swung around it ahead of them. 

“What’s the matter?” demanded Sam, wonder- 
ing at his chum’s conduct. “Can’t I ” 

“Hush!” exclaimed Jack in a whisper. “Did 
you see who those fellows were ?” 

“No, but if they’re pickpockets, you needn’t 
jump at me like that.” 

“They’re worse than pickpockets,” was Jack’s 
answer, as he drew his companions into the 
shadow of a building. 

“Who were they?” asked Nat. 

“Jerry Chowden, Hemp Smith and Jonas 
Lavine,” was our hero’s unexpected reply. 


178 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

For a moment Jack’s chums hardly compre- 
hended what he said. That three of their worst 
enemies should be so near at hand — that they 
should come upon them so unexpectedly in this 
southern city — seemed incredible. 

“Are you sure it was them?” asked Sam. 

“Sure,” replied Jack. “I had a glimpse of 
them just as you began to speak, and it was only 
a glimpse, under the glare of that arc light. I 
know I’m not mistaken, though. Fortunately, 
they didn’t see me — nor any of you, and I hope 
they didn’t hear what you said, Sam.” 

“Why?” 

“Why? Because, boys, I believe those fellows 
had something to do with the theft of my treas- 
ure box, and I don’t want them to know that I’m 
on their trail.” 

“Your treasure box?” repeated Sam. “Why, I 
thought you were sure that Caleb Herkimer took 
it.” 

“So I am, but Lavine, and the others, may have 
helped him. Lavine would do me a bad turn, if he 
could.” 

“But he and Jerry didn’t sail until after Caleb 
did, and they went in the Dolphin , with that Span- 
ish fellow,” said Nat. 

“I know it, and maybe that Spanish fellow ” 

“Or his pretty sister,” interrupted Nat. 

“Cut it out,” cried Jack, half angrily. “What 


THE STRANGE VESSEL 


179 


I mean is that perhaps the sailing of the Spaniard, 
Lavine and Chowden on the Dolphin may have 
been only a coincidence. Manacca may have been 
about to start for Porto Rico, and those scoun- 
drels may have gone with him. They might want 
to reach Porto Rico, to meet Caleb Herkimer and 
share up the loot. That is, providing they worked 
together.” 

“That’s so,” admitted Sam. “Say, but it’s get- 
ting more and more complicated.” 

“And there is a bare chance that Herkimer 
stopped off here on his way to Porto Rico,” went 
on Jack. “He may have done that to baffle pur- 
suit. Perhaps he is now with Lavine and the 
other on a ship in this harbor. The Spaniard may 
also be with them. If he is — well, I suppose it 
will be best to notify his sister,” Jack finished 
rather awkwardly. 

“But if that’s Hemp Smith, alias Marinello 
Booghoobally, alias Professor Punjab, and if Jerry 
Chowden and Jonas Lavine are with him, they’re 
here for no good,” said Nat, excitedly. “Maybe 
they are following us.” 

“Hardly,” declared Jack. “It was only by acci- 
dent that we put in here, and they could not know 
that. No, I’m inclined to think they were here 
before we arrived.” 

“Then let’s take after ’em 1” cried Bony, crack- 


180 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

ing his knuckles like pop-guns. “Let’s find out 
where they are stopping!” 

“Sure !” added Sam, and, without more words, 
the boys, with Jack in the lead, swung around the 
corner. The street, down which the trio of ras- 
cals had passed, was not crowded, and our friends 
expected to see their three enemies in plain sight, 
for not more than half a minute had elapsed since 
jack had sighted them. But they were not to be 
seen. The street was deserted. 

“They’ve disappeared!” cried Bony Balmore. 

“Vanished,” added Sam. 

“Mystified molasses!” ejaculated Nat. “That 
was a quick move ! Maybe they’re hiding in the 
shadows, or have gone into some building.” 

“The last is more likely,” decided Jack. “We’ll 
cross the street, and go down on the other side. 
Maybe we’ll see them.” 

But they did not, though they went the entire 
length of the street, which led down to the water 
front, and even retraced their steps. Hemp Smith, 
and the others, had evidently gone into some build- 
ing, and it was out of the question to decide which 
one. 

“Well, we may as well go back to the yacht,” 
suggested Jack. “Perhaps we can pick them up 
in the morning, or get some information about 
them. I wonder if Caleb Herkimer is with 
them ?” 


THE STRANGE VESSEL 


181 


“If he is, he’ll keep mighty shady,” was Sam’s 
opinion. “Say, Jack, maybe the Dolphin broke 
down, and had to put in here for repairs, the sam$ 
as we did.” 

“It’s possible,” admitted Jack. 

They found Captain Reeger on board when 
they arrived, and he announced that he had made 
arrangements for the repairs to be begun early the 
next morning. In turn they told him about see- 
ing his old enemy, Lavine, at which news the cap- 
tain was a bit alarmed. 

“We’ll go to the police in the morning,” he said, 
“and see if we can cause their arrest.” 

“Better go to-night,” was Jack’s opinion, and 
another trip to the city was made, police head- 
quarters being visited. 

There the chief promised to have his detectives 
look for the trio, or, rather, the quartette, for 
Caleb Herkimer was included. At Jack’s sug- 
gestion the harbor records were looked up, but 
no vessel bearing the name Dolphin had reg- 
istered. 

“There’s one motor craft in besides yours,” the 
chief said, after a talk with the harbor master 
over the telephone, “but the names of the crews 
and passengers are all different from those you 
give.” 

“They might change their names,” said Nat. 

The chief of police promised to have an inves- 


182 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

tigation made, and with this our friends had to be 
content. Once more they went back to the Sea 
Bird , and they were tired enough to turn in and 
sleep. 

When the repairs were started the next morn- 
ing the boys once more went ashore. But there 
was no favorable news for them, and they con- 
cluded that Hemp Smith, and the others, must 
have left town during the night. The boys put in 
the remainder of the day visiting historical places 
in and about the city. On their return late in 
the afternoon Captain Reeger informed them that 
they would sail early the next morning, the repairs 
having been completed, and a fresh supply of gas- 
olene taken aboard. 

Bright and early the start was made, Skeleton 
having breakfast ready on record time. As the 
Sea Bird swung away from her dock, and dropped 
down the bay toward the ocean, Miss Manacca 
came up on deck. 

“You missed a trip ashore,” said Jack. “I 
thought you were going to see some of the sights. 
It’s a nice place.” 

“I was going to,” answered the girl, “but I 
didn’t feel very well. My head has ached lately, 
and I’m not used to such actions on its part.” 

“That’s too bad,” spoke Jack, sympathetically. 
“Perhaps when we get to sea once more you’ll be 
better.” 


THE STRANGE VESSEL 183 

“I hope so,” she went on, with a smile. “Oh, I 
love the sea! Our home in Porto Rico is on a 
beautiful bay, and I have my own little sailboat. 
I hope, sometime ” 

She broke off what she was saying, and looked 
across to where several boats, tugs and others, 
were maneuvering to get up to or away from a 
wharf. The girl’s gaze seemed fixed on a cer- 
tain vessel. She went closer to the rail, and leaned 
over, watching earnestly. Jack’s gaze followed 
hers, and he saw a trim motor craft, slightly 
larger, and evidently much more speedy than the 
Sea Bird , making her way out of a tangle of other 
craft. 

“That — that yacht!” exclaimed Miss Manacca. 
“That is the one my brother sailed on for Porto 
Rico!” 

“Your brother!” cried Jack. “Is he on that 
vessel ? Have you ever seen it before ?” 

“No, but it is exactly of the same description 
as the one he wrote he was to sail on. She is 
the same color and build, and I know something 
of boats.” 

“But you told me your brother sailed on the 
Dolphin!” cried Jack, wondering again if there 
could be any connection in the presence on the 
same craft of Chowden, Smith, Lavine, and the 
Spaniard. 


184 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“He did sail on the Dolphin” declared Miss 
Manacca. 

“That boat is the Annabell” went on Jack, 
as he caught sight of the name under the stern. 

“The Annabell?” queried Miss Manacca. “I 
— I can’t understand. It is exactly the same as 
the Dolphin” 

Jack caught up a pair of glasses, and leveled 
them at the other motor yacht, which was rapidly 
dropping down the harbor. He fixed the binocu- 
lars on the name. To his surprise it showed 
plainly that it was freshly painted, and it seemed 
to have been hurriedly done, so that another name 
showed faintly under the word “ Annabell” 

“If it should be her!” murmured Jack. “It 
might be.” 

The distance between the two craft was momen- 
tarily widening. Suddenly a figure on the strange 
yacht that was head of the Sea Bird came aft, and 
peered over the rail, gazing at Sam’s uncle’s yacht 
through a glass. Quickly Jack trained his own 
glasses on the figure. He almost dropped the 
binoculars, for the face that loomed up in them 
was that of Hemp Smith, alias Marinello Boog- 
hoobally. And grouped behind him could be seen 
Jerry Chowden and Jonas Lavine. There was one 
other figure, and Jack was almost sure who it was 
before he looked carefully. His rapid gaze 
through the glasses confirmed his fear, for there, 


THE STRANGE VESSEL 


185 

on the deck, stood the Spandiard whom Jack and 
Nat had encountered in Denton — the brother of 
Miss Manacca. 

Jack lowered the glasses, and looked at the girl 
near him. She was still gazing after the strange 
vessel, evidently puzzled over its resemblance to 
the Dolphin , but unable to account for the change 
of name. She had, obviously, not recognized any 
of the figures on deck, and, as she was standing in 
the shadow of an awning, Jack felt sure that the 
Spaniard had not seen his sister. Besides, the 
Spaniard had no glasses. 

But there was no sight of Caleb Herkimer, and 
Jack felt that he had been wrong in thinking that 
the thief of the treasure box had joined Lavine 
and the others. Meanwhile something seemed to 
cause excitement among the men on the after deck 
of the Annahell. 

The glasses, as Jack could see, were passed 
from hand to hand. 

“The have evidently recognized me,” thought 
our hero. “I wonder if we can catch them ?” 

He was about to ask Captain Reeger to make 
more speed, when the engine of the Sea Bird sud- 
denly stopped, and the craft she was pursuing shot 
ahead under increased power. Jack’s enemies 
were escaping. 


CHAPTER XX 

THE HATPIN 

“Why are we stopping?” cried Miss Manacca, 
in some alarm. 

“I don’t know, but I’ll find out,” answered 
Jack. He took one more observation through the 
glasses. He could still see the rascals on the after 
deck of the Annabell, gazing at him. Pursuit was 
now out of the question, for by the time the Sea 
Bird got under way again, the swifter vessel would 
have a lead that would be hard to overcome. And 
that those on board her intended to make the best 
of their chance was evident. The Spaniard, as 
Jack could see, remained aloof, a solitary figure, 
not mingling with the others. 

“Perhaps some one is hurt,” suggested Miss 
Manacca, while a series of sounds, as of some one 
pounding on metal, came from the motor room. 
She looked apprehensively at Jack, and seemed to 
have forgotten her interest in the strange vessel 
that bore so remarkable a resemblance to the one 
her brother had described to her. Nay, it was 
the very same yacht, Jack felt, and he believed 
1 86 


THE HATPIN 187 

the name had been changed to deceive those who 
might be making a pursuit of the Dolphin. 

“Though as long as Caleb Herkimer isn’t 
aboard I don’t see what they have to fear,” rea- 
soned Jack. “He’s the one I want most — him 
and my treasure box, though the Spaniard and the 
others may be up to some game.” 

But Jack had little time for reflection. He 
wanted to see what had happened in the engine 
room, and hurried thither. He found there Cap- 
tain Reeger, Jensen and Sam. 

“What’s up?” asked Jack, anxiously. 

“Only some of the spark plugs out of order,” 
replied Jensen. “I’ll soon have ’em going again. 
I bought some in Charleston, in anticipation of 
an emergency, and it’s a good thing I did. I 
knocked a monkey wrench down, and cracked the 
porcelain on a couple. We’ll soon be under way 
again.” 

“How long?” asked Jack. 

“Oh, about fifteen minutes.” 

“That’ll be too late,” was our hero’s comment, 
and when Captain Reeger, who overheard his 
remark, asked why, Jack told about the presence 
on board the Annahell of their enemies. 

“We’ll try to catch them,” said the captain 
eagerly, and he helped change the spark plugs. 
But when the Sea Bird was in motion again, the 
other vessel was not in sight. And, as they ran 


1 88 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

into a slight haze in approaching the mouth of 
the harbor, it was out of the question to look for 
the suspicious craft that had so recently changed 
her name. Had she gone on to Porto Rico, or 
back up the Atlantic Coast? Jack would have 
given a great deal to know, not only that he might 
the better understand what he was to do in regard 
to Miss Manacca, but also in reference to his 
stolen treasure box. 

The Sea Bird passed out on the Atlantic, and, 
on the bounding billows, with her motor speeded 
up to the last notch, she was once more making 
good time to Porto Rico. That day, and the 
next, passed pleasantly. The schoolboys enjoyed 
to their utmost their yachting trip, and even the 
thought that they were after a criminal did not 
detract from their pleasure. Miss Manacca 
seemed more like herself, and laughed and joked 
in her former style. The moonlight nights on 
deck were ones to be long remembered, as, 
grouped under the awning, while the silver-crested 
waves slipped past on either side, they sang col- 
lege songs and more or less sentimental ditties, to 
the accompaniment of the Spanish girl’s guitar. 

“And to think that I will soon be in dear Porto 
Rico !” she exclaimed. “I must insist that all you 
young gentlemen call to see my brother and my- 
self. He will want to thank you for having 
brought me home, after he deserted me. But I 


THE HATPIN 


189 

know he never intended to do it,” she added hast* 
ily. “There was some good reason. He thought 
I had money, perhaps, and would stay in New 
York until he could send for me. But it all hap- 
pened for the best, and I have thoroughly enjoyed 
my trip on the Sea Bird. I’ll sing a Spanish sea- 
song for you,” and she did, in such a rollicking 
manner that Jack and the others felt constrained 
to join in the chorus, though they had to impro- 
vise English words for it. 

“Well, another day ought to put us close to 
Cuba,” announced Captain Reeger, one afternoon, 
when the yacht was slipping along over a calm 
sea. “Then it will be no time at all until we 
reach Porto Rico.” 

“Oh, how grand!” cried the girl. “Then I 

shall be at home, and you ” she paused, and 

looked at Jack, who was sitting near her on deck. 
Captain Reeger had gone forward. 

“I have some business to attend to,” he replied 
in some confusion. 

“I wish you all success,” said Miss Manacca 
sincerely, and she gazed at Jack curiously. 

“Thanks,” he murmured. He was wondering 
what she had done with the handbag with the ini- 
tials, L. F., on the side. 

The girl arose from her steamer chair, and 
a book she had been making a pretense of read- 
ing slid to the deck. Jack stooped over to pick 


igo JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 


it up, and, as he did so, something slipped from 
his pocket, and fell, with a tinkle, to the white 
painted boards. The girl glanced quickly down, 
and Jack made a grab for the object. It was the 
hatpin found near the looted safe. It had fallen 
from his pocket. 

He tried to put it back without attracting the 
attention of the Spanish girl, but a hatpin is rather 
an awkward object to handle — especially for a 
young man, and Jack was not succeeding very well. 
Miss Manacca had a glimpse of the jeweled head. 

“What is that?” she asked quickly. 

“Nothing — that is, it’s — er ” stammered 

Jack. The secret he had been trying to keep 
seemed about to be revealed. 

“Nothing?” asked the girl, her eyes widening 
in surprise. “It sounded like something. It 
looked like ” 

Jack gave a little start. He had stuck himself 
on the pin point, the cork he had fixed to it hav- 
ing come off. Before he could prevent it the pin 
had again fallen to the deck, and was in plain 
sight, the red jewel glowing ruby-red in the sun. 

“Why — why — that — that ” began Miss 

Manacca, picking up the hatpin before Jack could 
reach it. “That’s mine!” she cried. “Where did 
you get it, Mr. Ranger?” 

“Yours?” echoed Jack. He had expected to 
see her deny the ownership. All these days he 


THE HATPIN 


191 

had been hiding the hatpin as a damaging bit of 
evidence; he had forbidden his chums to so much 
as hint at it, yet at the first sight of it Miss 
Manacca claimed it. What did it mean? 

“Where did you get it?” she asked, wonder- 
ingly. “I have been heart-broken over its loss. 
It is a family heirloom.” 

“I — I found it,” stammered Jack, wondering 
what would be best to say, and then, resolving to 
put the matter to the test, he decided to tell the 
truth. 

“It was found in the office of Judge Bennett, in 
Denton,” he said. “Near the safe.” 

“In Judge Bennett’s office?” repeated the girl. 
“Is that the place where a man with a funny name 
worked? A name something like a cablegram?” 

“Caleb Herkimer?” questioned Jack, wonder- 
ing what was coming next. 

“That’s it !” cried the girl, clapping her hands 
in delight. “I have been trying for the longest 
time to recall that name. It is such an odd one 
— all you Americans have odd names, though Jack 
Ranger is not so bad,” and she laughed mischiev- 
ously. “I knew I lost my hatpin in Mr. Caleb’s 
office,” she went on, “but my brother would not 
let me go back to look. He hurried me away. 
It was at night. And so Judge Bennett had also 
his office there? I presume he is what we call 
an advocate — a lawyer.” 


192 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Yes,” assented Jack. “Were you there?” He 
hated to put the question. But quickly came the 
answer, given with all the innocence in the world. 

“I went there one night with my brother,” said 
Miss Manacca. “It was after dark. It was the 
same night we left Denton, and came to New 
York. Yes, I was in Mr. Caleb’s — or Judge 
Bennett’s office, and it was there I lost my hatpin. 
Oh, I’m so glad to get it back again!” and there 
was not a trace of guilt in the eyes that looked at 
Jack Ranger. As for our hero, he did not know 
what to think, or say, or do. The whole mystery 
seemed to be getting more and more tangled. 


CHAPTER XXI 

BUDGE IS TANGLED UP 

Miss Manacca was looking carefully at the 
hatpin, as if to ascertain whether or not it had 
been damaged during the time Jack had it. She 
seemed to find it satisfactory. 

“It’s rather a curious design,” remarked Jack, 
hoping he might lead her into some conversation 
about it. 

“Yes, it is quite rare. The jewel and its setting 
was originally a breastpin, and it has quite a his- 
tory. It was made by some ancient Indian or 
Mexican tribe, I believe. After my brother gave 
it to me, I had it made into a hatpin.” 

“Your brother gave it to you?” repeated Jack. 
Anxiously he waited for her answer. 

“Yes it was a present from my brother,” she 
went on. “There is quite a curious history con- 
nected with it. Perhaps I shall tell it to you some 
day, but just now I am anxious to know how you 
got it. Did you find it in the lawyer’s office?” 

“Yes, I picked it up.” 

“Then you were perhaps there on business?” 
193 


194 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

she suggested. “Is Mr. Caleb — I never can think 
of his other name — is he a friend of yours?” 

“Not exactly, but he worked for Judge Bennett, 
who is our lawyer.” 

“Ah, then you were in the office on law busi- 
ness? I hope you are in no legal difficulties. Ah, 
my poor father ! He was always at law, and that 
made him poor.” 

“No, I wasn’t exactly in legal difficulties,” said 
Jack, a bit awkwardly. “I was in the office look- 
ing after some property of mine.” Thus he desig- 
nated his treasure box. How was he going to 
tell Miss Manacca that, for a time, suspicion had 
pointed to her — aye, did even yet? For what 
was she doing in the lawyer’s office the night the 
box was stolen? 

“Well, I never can thank you enough for restor- 
ing my pin to me,” went on the girl. “I should 
have gone back to search for it, only we left in 
such a hurry, and my brother was so anxious to 
get away, and Mr. Caleb was so anxious to have 
us leave quickly, for fear we would be seen there.” 

“For fear you would be seen?” murmured Jack. 
“Why, didn’t you want to be seen in Judge Ben- 
nett’s office?” 

“It was because we went there to get ” be- 

gan Miss Manacca, but she was interrupted by a 
series of yells from the motor room of the yacht. 

“Hi! Hi! Come quick, somebody! Budge 


BUDGE IS TANGLED UP 


195 


done got cotched in dish yeah contraption dat’s 
goin’ ’round an’ ’round laik a coffee grinder!” 
shouted the voice of Skeleton, the colored cook. 
“Come quick, everybody!” 

“Budge caught in the machinery!” cried Jack, 
springing for the companionway. 

“Help ! Help !” yelled the odd lad, this time 
his voice not being impeded by any gum. 

“Quick! Quick!” implored Skeleton. 

Jack rushed down the steps, glancing back at 
Miss Manacca to note that she had sunk, white 
and trembling, into a steamer chair. Sam, Bony 
and Nat hurried from the main cabin with Cap- 
tain Reeger. The two machinists were forward, 
making some repairs to the anchor winch. 

“What’s the matter?” cried Sam. 

“Budge is hurt,” answered Jack. 

He threw open the door leading to the com- 
partment where the motor was located. Mingled 
with the cries now came a curious pounding and 
jarring of the machinery. The yacht seemed to 
be losing speed. 

“Hurry up, or I’m a goner!” begged Budge. 

“Quick, or dish year contraption’ll make mince- 
meat ob him!” added Skeleton. 

A moment later Jack and the others saw that 
which made them gasp with horror. Budge was 
standing in front of the still quickly-revolving 
motor, though its speed had considerably slack- 


1 96 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

ened, and he was slowly being drawn in towaii 
the big, heavy fly wheel and cogs that worked the 
pump and oiling systems. 

The lad wore a long, loose apron, for he had 
been helping Skeleton in the galley. This apron 
had caught in the wheel, and was being wound up 
around the shaft, pulling Budge slowly, but with 
irresistible force, into the machinery. The stout 
cloth of the apron would not give, and Budge had 
tied it in such a hard knot behind that he could 
not loosen it. 

“Hold back! Hold back!” implored Jack. 
“Break away, Budge!” 

“I can’t! I can’t move!” he answered. 

“Brace with your hands, and push back!” ad- 
vised Nat. 

“I can’t do that, either. If I put out my hands 
they’ll be chewed off in the wheels !” 

“Shut off the power!” yelled Captain Reeger. 
“Turn that stop cock, and shove over that lever, 
Jack,” for Jack was the nearest person to the con- 
trolling devices of the motor. 

Jack reached forward to do so, but, at that in- 
stant, there was a snapping sound, and the rod 
that operated the pump, which circulated the 
water in the cylinders, cracked because of the 
unusual strain. Then, like some big arm of steel, 
the rod went flying about the motor room, being 
still connected by one end to the eccentric shaft. 


BUDGE IS TANGLED UP 


197 


To approach it meant to risk death, for it was 
flinging itself about, just in front of the controlling 
levers and valves. Budge, being farther back, was 
out of harm’s way, but no one could approach to 
shut off the motor. And, in a short time, the unfor- 
tunate lad would be drawn into the mass of wheels 
and gears, which, though they were laboring to 
overcome the friction caused by the winding about 
the shaft of Budge’s apron, were still moving 
swiftly. 

The two machinists came below on the run. 
Jack had drawn back when he saw the threshing 
pump-rod, but only for a moment. The next in- 
stant he caught up a heavy iron bar, and 
exclaimed: 

*T’m going to save Budge’s life!” 


CHAPTER XXII 

IN THE LIGHTNING FLASH 

For a few seconds those in the motor room 
did not comprehend Jack’s plan. With the heavy 
bar raised above his head, he crept forward, 
crouching down low to avoid the flinging arm that 
was like a big flail. Then Nat found his voice. 

“What are you going to do ?” he gasped. 

“I’m going to stop that motor,” answered Jack 
grimly. 

“But you can’t ! You’ll be killed ! Comeback!” 
commanded Captain Reeger. “Maybe we can get 
a long pole, and shove over the cut-off lever.” 

“By that time it will be too late,” replied Jack. 
“I’ll do it my way.” 

The others watched him, fascinated. Slowly 
he crept forward until he was near enough to 
thrust the bar he carried right in the path of the 
pump rod. There was a clash and clang of met- 
als, a ringing sound as if a bell had been struck. 
Then there came a vicious snap, and a piece of 
the pump rod went sailing through a port hole, 
splintering the heavy glass as if it was but a win- 
dow pane in a doll’s house. 


IN THE LIGHTNING FLASH 


199 


“There!” cried Jack in triumph, as he sprang 
forward. He had accomplished what he set 
out to do — the pump rod was no longer threshing 
around, for it had been broken off short, by strik- 
ing against the heavy bar which the lad thrust 
forward for that very purpose. There was no 
longer any danger in approaching to shut off the 
motor. An instant later Jack had done this, and 
the wheels ceased revolving. 

Nor was it a moment too soon. Already Budge 
had been drawn so close that his clothing, together 
with the apron, was beginning to be wound up 
around the shaft. 

“It’s — it’s — all ” began the odd youth, and 

then his face went suddenly white, and he slumped 
forward in a heap on top of the motor. 

“Oh, he’s — he’s dead — killed!” moaned Bony, 
cracking his knuckles loudly. 

“Not a bit of it ! Only fainted !” asserted Jack. 
“Here, some of you help me cut him loose.” Jack 
whipped out his knife, and Sam followed his ex- 
ample. There was little use in attempting to un- 
tangle the cloth from the shaft. It was cut, thus 
freeing Budge; and, still unconscious from the 
pressure about his waist, he was carried up on 
deck, where the fresh air would revive him. 

“Oh, is he — dead?” gasped Miss Manacca, 
who had been joined by her colored attendant, and 
the two of them shrank back. 


200 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Only fainted,” announced Jack cheerfully. 
“He’ll be all right in a minute or two.” 

“I have some strong smelling salts,” went on 
the girl. She held a bottle of the volatile stuff 
beneath the nose of Budge Rankin. He breathed 
more strongly, sniffed once or twice, and then 
turned his head away, his eyes partly opening. 

“He’s coming around,” announced Captain 
Reeger. 

Budge opened his eyes fully. Miss Manacca 
held the bottle closer to his nose. Budge gave a 
violent start, and sat up. 

“Who hit me?” he demanded, for indeed the 
ammonia, which was the chief ingredient of the 
smelling salts, gave the impression that a sudden 
jar had been administered. 

“No one hit you,” answered Jack, who was sup- 
porting his friend. “But you had a narrow escape, 
old man. You were tangled up in the motor.” 

Budge looked down at his torn clothes. Then 
he gazed at the circle of faces around him. He 
opened his mouth and spoke : 

“Has any one got any gum?” he asked. 

“Petrified perambulators!” gasped Nat. “You 
are the limit, Budge! Are you hurt?” 

“Not much, I guess,” was his answer, as he 
gratefully accepted some gum Bony held out. 
Breath was gone — that’s all. I’m all right now.” 

“How did it happen?” asked Jack. 


IN THE LIGHTNING FLASH 


201 


“I was watching the motor,” explained Budge. 
“Skeleton bet me I couldn’t count how fast it went 
around, and I said I could. There was no one in 
the place, so we went in from the galley. I was 
putting my finger on the fly wheel, to see how fast 
it went, when a puff of wind blew my apron into 
the shaft. ’Ntherelwas,” concluded Budge, begin- 
ning to chew the gum. 

“Well, you’d better not do it again,” said Cap- 
tain Reeger, a bit severely. “No telling what dam- 
age you’ve done.” 

“It’s not much, sir,” reported Jensen, who came 
on deck then. “Hanson and I have got most of 
the cloth from off the shaft, and we have a spare 
pump rod. We’ll be under way again in about 
two hours.” 

“But don’t you try it again, Budge,” warned 
Jack. 

“Nope. I’llbe’anged’fldo.” 

“You’ll be worse than hanged,” predicted Sam 
grimly. “You, too, Skeleton.” 

“I ’clar’ t’ goodness-gladness I ain’t nebber goin’ 
in dat engin room ag’in,’ ; promised Skeleton ear- 
nestly. 

Budge was soon himself again, and went below 
to get on some other garments. Meanwhile the 
two machinists were busy over the disabled mo- 
tor, and the Sea Bird lay to, lazily slumping about 
on the sea, which, fortunately, was very calm. 


202 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Well, that was some excitement,” remarked 
Jack, as he went back to join Miss Manacca. 

“And it might have been worse, if it had not 
been for your brave act in breaking the pump rod,” 
she rejoined, for she had heard the story from 
Sam and Nat, and it lost nothing in their render- 
ing of it. 

“Oh, any one could have done what I did,” said 
Jack, modestly. 

“But no one did,” she replied, her eyes 
sparkling. 

They conversed for some time longer, and then, 
as the machinists needed some help in lifting off 
and replacing the heavy fly wheel, Jack and the 
other boys went below to bear a hand. 

It was nearly twice Jensen’s estimate of two 
hours before they were under way again, and, 
by this time, it had gotten quite dark. But with 
lighted lamps the Sea Bird was soon skimming 
over the waves again, once more headed for Porto 
Rico. 

“And none too soon,” declared Captain Reeger, 
as he stood at the wheel. 

“Why?” asked Jack. 

“Because we’re in for another storm, though 
not a bad one. I like to be moving when the sea 
kicks up a fuss.” 

The storm seemed slow in making up its mind 
what to do. The fog had blown away some time 


IN THE LIGHTNING FLASH 


203 


since, and now, off to the west, there were fitful 
flashes of lightning, forked tongues of pale fire, 
varied now and then with great sheets of flame 
that seemed to shoot from the horizon to the 
zenith. The wind was moaning and sobbing in 
the rigging, and there was a slow, uneasy heave 
to the sea and an oiliness to the water that gave 
it an unpleasant appearance. 

“I guess it’s going to be nothing but a thunder 
shower,” said Jack to Miss Manacca, who had 
come up on the after deck, at the close of the 
evening meal. 

“I hope it will not be very severe,” she ventured. 
“We will be somewhat delayed getting to Porto 
Rico, I fear. I mean because of the accident this 
afternoon. Poor Budge, as you call him. Is he 
all right?” 

“Oh, yes. As chipper as ever, and chewing gum 
as fast as possible.” 

There came a rather awkward silence. Jack 
was thinking of many things, but there was one 
question he wanted to ask the girl. He nerved 
himself to put it. 

As the Sea Bird shot forward, now over a sea 
as black as ink, and again on top of the lightnings 
illuminated waves, Jack said to her: 

“We were talking of matters in Judge Ben- 
nett’s office, Miss Manacca, just before Budge met 
with his mishap.” 


204 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Yes,” she assented, and there was a frightened 
note in her voice. 

“I suppose it’s rather impudent of me to ask,” 
went on our hero, “but I would like very much 
to know why you were there. Do you mind tell- 
ing?” 

There was a moment’s pause. Then her an- 
swer came, as coolly and as calmly as if he had 
asked her to dance with him. 

“I don’t in the least mind telling you. I went 
there with my brother to sign some papers so that 
we might obtain the inheritance of which we had 
tried so long to get possession. It was merely to 
have Mr. Caleb — Mr. Caleb ” 

“Herkimer ” supplied Jack. 

“Yes, it was to have Mr. Herkimer witness my 
signature and that of my brother. And it was then 
that I lost my hatpin.” 

The answer, so different from what Jack had 
expected — which put so different a face on the 
whole mystery — startled him. He was about to 
reply, when the girl sprang to her feet with a cry 
of warning, and pointed to the port rail. 

There, in a flash of lightning, was revealed an- 
other vessel, and one so close that it was a wonder 
that the Sea Bird had not run her down, for she 
displayed no lights. 

“Look out! Port! Port your helm!” cried 
Jack to Captain Reeger. But the commander had 


IN THE LIGHTNING FLASH 


205 

already seen the danger, and had shifted the 
wheel, while the motor room telegraph jangled 
out a command to reverse the engine. The single 
lightning flash that had revealed the presence of 
the other vessel was followed by a broad sheet of 
aerial fire. In the glare of it Jack looked at the 
mysterious craft. It was slipping by, hardly five 
cable lengths away. 

“The Annabell — the former Dolphin!” mur- 
mured Jack. “Is she following us — or we her? 
No lights — why has she no lights?” 

The flash lasted long enough for him to see 
the man at the wheel, and at the sight of him Jack 
Uttered another half-articulate cry. For the steers- 
man was none other than the Spaniard, Manacca. 

An instant later the girl at Jack’s side had 
rushed to the rail. Holding out her hands toward 
the other vessel, that had been swallowed up in 
the darkness, she cried: 

“Loy! Loy! Oh, Loy!” 

There was no answer. The next flash showed 
the vessel far off, for it was moving swiftly. Miss 
Manacca turned excitedly to Jack. 

“My brother was on that ship !” she cried, and 
then she fell in a faint on deck, while from the 
storm-clouds overhead came a deluge of rain. 


CHAPTER XXIII 

AT PORTO RICO 

Jack sprang to the aid of the prostrate girl, 
and managed to lift her into the low steamer 
chair. Her faint was but momentary, and she 
was soon herself again. A dash of rain in her face 
further revived her. 

“Did you — did you see him?” she gasped to 
Jack. “My — my brother! Oh, I forgot, you do 
not know him. But he was on that ship ! I saw 
him.” 

“Yes, yes,” spoke Jack, soothingly. “But you 
had better come below. Shall I call Musa?” 

“No, I am all right. It was silly of me to faint. 
But the sight of my brother startled me. Can 
we overtake that vessel?” 

“I’m afraid not,” answered our hero. “They 
were going very fast, and — they seem to want to 
remain hidden.” He gazed off across the dark 
and rain-swept ocean. The lightning had ceased 
for a time, and not a glimpse could be had of 
the mysterious yacht. She was swallowed up in 
the blackness of the night. 

206 


AT PORTO RICO 


20 / 


“Why — why do they want to remain con- 
cealed ?” asked the girl. “What does it mean ?” 

What could Jack tell her? Could he say that 
he believed that it was because of some mystery 
connected with his box of treasure — the treasure 
he had suspected her of taking? The treasure 
of which her brother might know something, and 
which Jack felt sure that Caleb Herkimer had? 
No. It was no time for such an admission. And 
yet the treasure box might be aboard the vessel 
which had slipped away so mysteriously in the 
darkness. Clearly those on board had some ob- 
ject in keeping in the shadows. 

“Did you see that?” called Captain Reeger to 
Jack. “In another minute we’d have run them 
down. The idiots ! To go about without show- 
ing lights. They ought to be reported. Could 
you make out the name?” 

“I’ll see you later,” answered Jack. “I’m help- 
ing Miss Manacca to get below. She doesn’t 
feel very well.” He had his own reasons for not 
telling Captain Reeger all he had seen in the 
lightning flash — at least he did not want to tell 
him now. Jack had a few problems to work out 
by himself. 

“Oh, I’m all right,” protested the girl, but, as 
the rain was beating in under the awning Jack in- 
sisted that she go below, and, as the yacht was 
beginning to pitch and toss, he gave her his arm. 


208 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

She was eager to question Jack, but the cabin 
was occupied by Sam, Nat and Bony, who were 
deep in a game of dominoes, and it was no place 
for confidences. 

“What was the row up on deck?” asked Sam, 
trying to get a double blank from the “bone-yard.” 

“Nearly ran into some other yacht,” answered 
Jack, carelessly. 

Miss Manacca retired to her stateroom, and, a 
little later, the boys also turned in, for they had 
been tired by their work over the disabled engine. 
Budge was all right, save for a soreness about the 
wrist. 

The next day was beautiful, the storm having 
cleared the atmosphere. The air was warm and 
balmy, for they were now well to the south. 

Captain Reeger was gazing through a powerful 
telescope toward what seemed a slight haze on 
the horizon. 

“Well, our voyage will soon be over,” he said 
to Jack. “At least the first part of it. Then you 
can begin your hunt on shore for your treasure 
box, Jack.” 

“Hush!” exclaimed the lad, and he glanced to- 
ward Miss Manacca, who was reading a book, 
seated in a steamer chair on the after deck. She 
had not heard, seemingly. 

“Oh, I forgot you don’t want her to know,” 
went on the captain. 


AT PORTO RICO 


209 

“But why do you say we are near the end?” 
asked Jack. 

“Because that haze over there is Cuba,” was 
the response. 

Miss Manacca caught the words. 

“Cuba !” she cried. “Oh, then we will soon be 
home ! Let me look, please !” 

She came forward, and Jack held the glass for 
her. 

“It doesn’t look much like Cuba,” she protested. 

“No, it is a bit too far off,” said the captain, 
“but that is Cuba, just the same. We won’t get 
much nearer her than this, as I’m now going to 
head directly for Porto Rico.” 

Jack followed the girl back to the after deck. 

“I want to ask you something, Mr. Ranger,” 
she began, in a quiet voice. 

“What is it?” he inquired, his heart strangely 
beating. He felt that her question would have 
to do with the mystery. 

“Do you know why my brother was on that 
yacht, and why they should sail about with no 
lights?” she asked, looking directly at him. 

Jack felt his face growing warm. What could 
he say? He made up his mind that he would not 
tell the whole truth — that he was beginning to sus- 
pect her brother — he could not do that, for he 
had too high a regard for the girl, for whom, in 


2io JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

the last two weeks, he had begun to feel a strange 
liking. Yet he must answer. 

‘‘Miss Manacca,” he said, a bit solemnly, “I 
can’t tell you all I might, for as you may have sus- 
pected, I am on my way to Porto Rico on a serious 
affair. I am after a scoundrel — a thief, and, 
aboard that vessel are other scoundrels and thieves 
who, I think, are seeking to do me harm. That 
is why they go about in the dark — because they 
don’t want to be traced.” 

“Scoundrels and thieves?” echoed the girl, 
shrinking back. “And my brother is with them !” 

“Perhaps he does not know their true charac- 
ter,” suggested Jack. “He may have taken the first 
vessel he could get to Porto Rico, and they may 
have been on board,” yet, even as he spoke, he 
could not reconcile the presence of Manacca to- 
gether with Lavine and Chowden on the Dolphin, 
especially when he remembered that Manacca was 
to have sailed with “friends.” 

“I — I can’t understand it,” said the girl, wear- 
ily, passing her hand over her eyes. “I — I am 
beginning to — to be afraid,” and she fled from 
the deck, and went to her stateroom. 

They sighted Porto Rico a few days later, 
though it was not all smooth sailing, for they 
ran into a bad storm that lasted a day and night. 
Miss Manacca did not again appear on deck, and 
Jack did not know what to think. But he had 


AT PORTO RICO 


21 1 


many other matters with which to occupy his 
mind. He was busy in his stateroom, getting in 
shape some papers which he was to present to the 
authorities of San Juan, where they would dock. 
These documents included copies of Mr. Ranger’s 
title to the Fernandez box, letters from Judge Ben- 
nett, and from the police of New York, which last 
Detective Tyler had obtained, and other papers, 
showing the nature of Jack’s quest. 

“We’ll dock in half an hour,” announced Cap- 
tain Reeger, as he stood at the wheel, taking ob- 
servations. “And I must say that our trip, thus 
far, has been successful.” 

On sped the Sea Bird . Those on board crowded 
to the rail, watching San Juan as it loomed up on 
the little point of land on which it is located. 
Every moment the island city became more dis- 
tinct. Miss Manacca was below, packing, Jack 
thought, and her colored attendant was with her. 
Our hero had run up from his stateroom on a 
call from Nat, to look at the harbor. He left his 
papers on his dresser. 

Jack did not go below again until the yacht 
was fast to a dock. Then he thought of his scat- 
tered documents, and hurried down to collect them. 
They were neatly piled on his dresser, and on top 
was a weight. 

“I never put that there,” murmured Jack. 
“They must have started to blow around, and 


212 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

some one caught them. I’m glad they did. But 
we’re here, at any rate, and I must tell Miss 
Manacca. She’ll be anxious. I wonder if that 
other vessel reached here ahead of us?” 

He walked to the girl’s stateroom, intending 
to knock, and invite her on deck. To his surprise 
the room was wide open, and empty. All the be- 
longings of the Spanish girl had been removed. 

Much surprised, Jack stepped to the next room 
— that of Musa, the nurse. That was also va- 
cant. 

“They must have gone up the after companion- 
way, and I missed them,” he murmured. “They’re 
probably on deck.” 

Once more he looked into the little room, so 
lately occupied by the girl. A note on the dresser 
caught his attention. He looked. It was ad- 
dressed to him, in a foreign hand. He opened it. 
The few words it contained were quickly read. 

“Mr. Ranger,” it began, without preface. 
“Accidentally just now I saw some papers that 
blew from your stateroom. I picked them up and 
returned them, but I could not help seeing that, by 
them, you are seeking to recover the Ferandez 
box. That box of treasure belongs to my brother 
and to me! We have long sought it! It is only 
our enemies who seek to keep it from us. Once 
I overheard, in the cabin, your talk of some treas- 


AT PORTO RICO 


213 


ure, and I suspected it might be ours. The thought 
frightened me, and I did not want to see you again. 
Then I concluded I was mistaken. Now I know 
that you are after the Fernandez box — my treas- 
ure. You shall never have it! But I cannot for- 
get that you saved my life. I almost wish you had 
not. Lola Fernandez.” 

“Lola Ferandez!” gasped Jack. “So that’s 
what those initials L. F. stood for. She went 
under a false name.” 

He read the note again, and then crushed it into 
his pocket. 

“The Fernandez box hers!” he murmured. “I 
must get to the bottom of this.” 

He rushed up on deck. His chums were about 
to go ashore, for the gangplank had been run out. 

“I say!” began Jack. “Have any of you seen 
Miss Fernan — , I mean Miss Manacca?” 

“Miss Manacca?” repeated Nat. “Why, she 
and her nurse went ashore five minutes ago. We 
thought she said good-bye to you down below,” 
and he grinned. 

“Gone ashore!” exclaimed Jack. The girl had 
evidently fled from him. She did not want to 
meet him. “Gone ashore,” he repeated under his 
breath. “She considers me her enemy — and yet — 
she says she cannot forget that I saved her life. 
What will happen next?” 


CHAPTER XXIV 


HEMP SMITH 

Jack’s astonishment at the unexpected disap- 
pearance of the girl and her colored attendant 
was short-lived, at least for the time being. For 
the arrival of the Sea Bird at San Juan was the 
signal for a swarm of natives to gather about the 
dock, offering all sorts of things for sale, souve- 
nirs, sea shells, and articles of food of more or 
less desirability; and such a babel of tongues, such 
confusion from men who wished to be hired to 
work, such shouting from the dock officials, arose, 
that there was little opportunity for Jack and his 
chums to do anything but look on in wonder. 

“Mercerized mackerel!” exclaimed Nat. 
iWho’d have thought this was such a busy place !” 

“It’s great,” declared Sam. “I’m glad we came. 
Now if we can go ashore, Jack, and pick up your 
treasure box ” 

“Hush!” exclaimed the owner of the stolen 
chest. “We must go about it a little more quietly, 
Sam.” 

“Any way so as to get it — that’s my motto!” 
remarked Bony, who was at his favorite occupa- 
tion of knuckle-cracking. 

214 


HEMP SMITH 


215 


“When can we go ashore, Captain Reeger?” 
asked Jack. “I am anxious to see if those fellows 
have arrived yet.” 

“I guess we can go right away,” was the an- 
swer. “I have my papers all ready for the au- 
thorities, and you can begin your inquiries of the 
police as soon as you like. In fact some members 
of our party have already gone ashore. Miss 
Manacca told me to tell you that she had had a 
most delightful trip.” 

“Yes,” answered Jack, non-committally. He 
felt a little hurt at the girl’s conduct, but he did not 
want to show it. “Well, suppose we all try how 
it seems to walk on solid ground once more. I 
don’t see anything of the Dolphin , alias Annahell , 
in port,” and our hero looked around at the vari- 
ous vessels tied to docks. 

“Oh, she might be here and we not see her,” 
said Sam. “But we’ll soon find out.” 

On shore they were surrounded by a crowd of 
dusky Porto Ricans, all eager to get some of the 
“Americano” gold. The boys bought some souve- 
nirs, which, in a measure, relieved them from the 
importunities of the throng, and then, with Cap- 
tain Reeger, they hurried on to the office of the 
harbor master. There the commander filed the 
necessary papers, and, finding an official who spoke 
some English, he inquired for the Dolphin. 

“She must have arrived recently,” said the cap- 


21 6 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 


tain, “for, though she was faster than our boat, 
she could not get here very much in advance of 
us.” 

“She no here,” was the reply, after the officer 
had looked over his books. “Dolphin or Anna- 
hell, whichever you like to call her, Senor, she no 
have come.” 

“Not here !” cried Jack. “But I thought ” 

“Go easy,” advised Captain Reeger, in a low 
voice. “News travels fast in a place like this, and 
you don’t want to give your business away in ad- 
vance. The vessel with those fellows on board 
may have landed at Ponce, or some other port on 
the island. This is not the only one.” 

“That’s so,” admitted Sam. “Then what’s the 
matter with us driving across to Ponce? They 
say there’s a fine road over the island. We can 
get horses, and on our way visit some of the caves 
for which this place is famous. Maybe we’ll find 
a store of pirate gold, and then we’ll all have 
treasure boxes, as well as Jack Ranger.” 

He had spoken rather loudly, and at his words 
there was a curious interchange of glances among 
several men in the office of the harbor master. 

“Will you fellows keep quiet!” begged Jack. 
“First you know Hemp Smith, Lavine and Caleb 
Herkimer will know we’re after them, and we 
can whistle for what we want.” 

“I guess they know it already,” was Nat’s opin- 


HEMP SMITH 


217 


ion. Jupiter’s muskmelons! Didn’t they see us 
from their boat ? Of course they know we’re after 
them. The thing to do is to catch them.” 

“Let’s go to Ponce,” suggested Bony. “I guess 
I can ride a horse.” 

“If the horse doesn’t object to having such a 
scarecrow of a figure sit on his back,” remarked 
Sam, taking care to get out of the reach of Bony’s 
fist. 

“Huh! I don’t weigh as much as you, that’s 
one consolation,” retorted Bony. 

“No, we’ll not go to Ponce — right away,” de- 
cided Jack. “That is, I won’t. You fellows can 
do as you like.” 

“Why, we’re here to help you,” declared Nat, 
“but I should think it would be a good thing to 
go to Ponce. It’s the only other big place, except 
San Juan, and most likely the Dolphin has put in 
there.” 

“Well, I’m not going — yet,” murmured Jack. 

“Ah! I see!” exclaimed Sam. “Miss Manacca 
lives there. She didn’t say good-bye to Jack. 
What does that mean? Nothing else but a quar- 
rel. See the game, fellows? Jack is miffed, and 
he won’t ” 

“Shut up!” cried Jack, more forcibly than po- 
litely. “Some of these men may understand Eng- 
lish.” 

He did not deny what Sam had said, and, truth 


2 18 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

to tell, that was one reason why Jack did not care 
to journey to Ponce. Another was that he wanted 
to make further inquiries at San Juan. 

They left the office of the harbor master, and, 
at the captain’s suggestion, next visited the police 
authorities. Jack and Nat went on this errand, as 
it was thought best to avoid the confusion of a 
large party. Armed with his letters of introduc- 
tion, and documents concerning the treasure box, 
Jack was ushered in to see the chief of police. 

That official was very polite, and also very 
anxious to help. 

“But, you know,” he said, with a smile, “things 
move slowly down here. It will probably be sev- 
eral days before I have any news for you.” 

Jack had expected this, and, knowing the habits 
engendered by a long Spanish rule, he prepared 
himself for delay. 

For a week the treasure-seekers remained in 
San Juan. At the end of that time the police head 
announced that, as far as he was able to learn, 
the Dolphin, or any vessel corresponding to her 
description, had not landed on the island. Nor 
was there any trace of Caleb Herkimer, the treas- 
ure box, or anything connected with it. 

“What about Mr. Manacca?” asked Jack, as a 
sort of last hope. 

“Ah, Senor Manacca! Well, the best way to 
find out about him would be to go to Ponce* 


HEMP SMITH 


219 

where he lives,” advised the chief. “We do not 
know him here — at least by that name.” 

Then Jack decided that his objection to going 
to the place where he might meet Miss Manacca 
was not to be considered. 

“We start for Ponce in the morning,” he an- 
nounced to his chums, that afternoon, as they 
went on board the Sea Bird. 

“Then ho ! for the pirates’ caves, and the won- 
derful bags of gold!” cried Sam. 

Horses were secured early the next morning, 
and the trip across the island was begun. There 
was a fine highway from San Juan to Ponce, and 
along this the four boys took their course. Cap- 
tain Reeger, Budge and the others remained on 
board the yacht. It was about forty miles from 
San Juan to Ponce in a direct line, but longer by 
way of the good roads, so the boys decided to 
take two days to the trip, stopping to visit some 
of the caves. 

The trip was enjoyable, in spite of the fact that 
Jack was worried over his treasure box. They 
went up into the mountains, and spent some time 
in the caverns, of which there were a number. 
They passed the night in the city of Barros, and 
enjoyed the scenes incidental to a native holiday. 
Early the following morning they were on their 
way again. 

In Ponce, Jack visited the police, having a letter 


220 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

from the chief in San Juan. He was offered ever}' 
courtesy and facility, and an inquiry was at once 
started. The boys put up at a good hotel, and 
they were just sitting down to dinner when a mes- 
senger arrived with a note for Jack. It was from 
the police, and read: 

“Senor Manacca has not been at home in some 
time. His sister and her attendant recently ar- 
rived from the United States, but Senor Manacca 
or, to give his full name, Senor Manacca-Fernan- 
dez, is not at home. Nor is there any record in 
this city of the vessel Dolphin having put into any 
port around here. Neither is there any trace of 
the other persons of whom Senor Ranger has been 
pleased to make inquiries.” 

The police official, after signing himself a most 
obedient servant, and offering to do anything else 
in his power, closed his note with thanks for hav- 
ing had the privilege of helping the Americans. 

“Not here,” murmured Jack. “I can’t under- 
stand it.” 

“And no trace of Caleb Herkimer!” added Nat. 
“Maybe he never sailed for this place at all!” 

“Maybe,” assented Jack, listlessly, reading the 
note again. He was puzzled over the non-arrival 
of Miss Manacca’s brother, or, to give her the 
name she claimed, Miss Fernandez. And he was 


HEMP SMITH 221 

now almost sure that the Spaniard, not Herkimer, 
had the box. 

Jack had not read to his companions the por- 
tion of the note referring to the change of name. 
He wanted to think about that part of the mystery 
a little longer. What was the girl’s object in sail- 
ing under false colors at the first, and, later, tell- 
ing her right name? Yet, according to the police, 
she had a right to both, for, like many other 
Spanish families, her last name was a double one. 
Jack shook his head. 

“Well, we won’t give up yet,” he said. “We’ll 
stay here a week, and see what turns up. Then 
we’ll go back to San Juan.” 

This program was carried out. They remained 
at the hotel, but could get no further trace of the 
treasure box, nor those suspected of taking it. 
Jack set on foot some private inquiries regarding 
the Manacca-Fernandez family. He found that 
they were of ancient and honorable lineage, and, 
though poor, were much respected. He also 
learned that Miss Manacca-Fernandez was at 
home, ftnd that she was much worried over the 
non-arrival of her brother. 

“Maybe the Dolphin has sunk!” thought Jack, 
when this news was brought to him. “She was 
likely to, the way they ran her after dark without 
lights. That would explain everything — their non- 
arrival here, and — but my treasure box! If it 


222 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

was on board, as I believe, it may be at the bottom 
of the sea now ! Though if Caleb Herkimer took 
it, and sailed with it before the Dolphin did, that 
can hardly be. By Jove ! where am I at, anyhow?” 
and he rumpled up his hair, which he always did 
when he had any hard thinking to do. 

But all his hard thinking this time seemed to 
lead to nothing. It was like working in the dark. 
Then, after a fruitless week in Ponce, Jack and 
his chums returned to San Juan. There was no 
news there. 

It was one evening when the party had been in 
Porto Rico about three weeks, during which time 
they had heard nothing that would lead to the 
recovery of the treasure box, that Jack and his 
chums went ashore to stroll about. It was a beau- 
tiful moonlit night, and ashore were gay parties of 
natives and foreigners, listening to a marine band, 
or wandering about listlessly wherever there was 
a breeze. 

“It’s nice here,” observed Jack, “but there isn’t 
any use hanging around longer. I guess I might 
as well give up the hunt, and go back. I’m afraid 
my treasure box is gone for good.” 

“It’s mighty queer,” spoke Sam, “that we can’t 
get any trace of that fellow Herkimer, or Jerry 
Chowden and any of his crowd. 

“It sure is,” agreed Nat. “Maybe they’re back 


HEMP SMITH 


22 3 


in New York. They say that’s a good place to 
hide. It’s so big.” 

‘‘Well, we’ll look about a bit longer here,” de- 
cided Jack, “and then ” 

He did not finish what he was about to say. 
At that moment they came to a sort of open 
square, where a throng of people were gathered. 
In the centre, on a small, portable platform stood 
a man, and above his head was a flaring gasolene 
torch. He was talking in poor Spanish, lapsing 
now and then into the jargon of a street faker. 

“Selling celluloid collar buttons or patent medi- 
cine,” observed Sam. “Let’s go see what it is.” 

Jack Ranger pressed eagerly forward. He 
stared at the man under the torch. The fellow 
was shouting out the merits of his wares, which 
proved to be a powder for polishing silver. 

“Look!” exclaimed Jack, in a low voice, to his 
chums. “Do you see who that is?” 

“I can’t,” replied Nat. “The torch flickers so. 
None of our friends, I fancy.” 

“Not exactly a friend,” spoke Jack, slowly, “but 
we know him.” 

“Who is it?” asked Sam, 

“Hemp Smith, alias Marinello Booghoobally, ,, 
was Jack’s startling answer. “He’s here on the 
job, and if he’s here the rest can’t be far off. Fel- 
lows, we’re on some sort of a trail at last 1” 


CHAPTER XXV 

TWO ODD LETTERS 

For a moment after Jack had made his startling 
announcement, none of his companions spoke. 
They gazed at the faker, who was pattering away, 
disposing of some boxes of his powder to the gul- 
lible Porto Ricans. He kept up a running fire of 
talk, now in English and now in Spanish, for he 
had managed to pick up a smattering of the latter 
language. 

“It’s Smith, all right,” agreed Nat. “Wobbling 
whangdoodles ! What’ll we do about it?” 

“Let’s call an officer, and have him arrested,” 
suggested Bony, cracking his finger joints like min- 
iature revolvers. 

“No,” said Jack quickly. 

“Why not?” Sam wanted to know. “If we 
have him locked up he’ll tell where Herkimer and 
the others are, and we’ll find out what has become 
of your box.” 

“No,” answered Jack, shaking his head. “In 
the first place, we can’t have him locked up. At 
best we have but a suspicion against him, and it 
would be hard to explain that to one of the police 
224 


TWO ODD LETTERS 


225 


here. Again, if we raised a row Hemp Smith 
would light out, and we might not set eyes on him 
again.” 

“Then what are you going to do?” asked Nat 

“Keep watch on him,” was the answer. “We’ll 
wait here, and see what he does, and when he 
leaves we’ll follow him. He can’t see us in this 
crowd. It’s our best chance. We’ll trail him, 
Nat; you and I. The rest of you go back to the 
ship, when we start out.” 

“Aren’t you afraid to tackle him alone?” asked 
Sam. 

“Not a bit of it,” was Jack’s answer. “I’ve had 
a run-in with Hemp before, and I’m not at all 
frightened of him.” 

“He’s an ugly customer,” ventured Nat. 

“If you’re afraid ” began Jack. 

“Of course not,” answered Nat quickly. 

They remained hidden in the crowd for some 
little time longer. Hemp Smith found the Porto 
Ricans “easy marks,” as he would have expressed 
it, and he succeeded in selling nearly all of his 
supply of comparatively worthless silver polish, 
ere the throng began to melt away. Then, real- 
izing that business was over for the night, Hemp 
extinguished the torch, folded up his platform, 
packed up his wares, and loaded them on a small 
hand cart. Pushing this before him, he went off 
down the street. 


226 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Now’s our chance,” said Jack to Nat. “We’ll 
take after him. Sam, you and Bony go back, and, 
if we don’t show up in a reasonable time, notify 
the police. We may get into trouble with Hemp, 
but I don’t believe so.” 

“Be careful,” urged Sam, as the two lads started 
off to shadow the rascal who, more than once, had 
tried his best to injure Jack Ranger. 

The man did not seem at all suspicious that he 
was being followed, and the comparative darkness 
of the streets aided Jack and Nat in their trailing. 

“How do you suppose he got here?” asked Nat. 
“The Dolphin couldn’t have arrived, or the police 
would have notified us.” 

“Maybe he came in a small boat,” suggested 
Jack. “Possibly from some island near here. 
There are a number of them. But don’t speak 
aloud. It’s so quiet that sound carries a long dis- 
tance, and a word in English may alarm him. 
We’ll just follow.” 

They did, for more than half an hour. Hemp 
Smith turned his steps toward a poorer part of 
the town, and, wending his way amid the pedes- 
trians, which now became fewer and fewer, he 
suddenly came to a stop in front of a small hotel 
and restaurant. His cart he left in an alley out- 
side, then he entered. Jack and Nat remained 
in the shadows of the wall. 

“Well?” asked Nat, after a pause. 


TWO ODD LETTERS 


227 


“I’m going in,” decided Jack. “I want to have 
a talk with him. I think he’ll tell what I want to 
know, if he thinks I might have him arrested.” 

“Suppose he shows fight?” 

“I don’t believe he will, in view of what we 
know of his past.” 

The place was not very inviting, but Jack and 
Nat did not mind this. They were intent on find- 
ing Hemp Smith. Though they had entered not 
three minutes after him, he was nowhere in sight, 
but a few words of explanation, to a man who 
seemed to be a sort of clerk, and a sight of a gen- 
eral letter of introduction, which Jack had from 
the Porto Rican police, worked wonders. 

“Yes, the Senor inquired about is stopping here, 
but his name is not Smith,” said the clerk. 

“No matter,” replied Jack. “He’s the man we 
want. We’ll go to his room.” 

“Of a certainty, yes,” answered the clerk, with 
a low bow. “The Senors Americanos are wel- 
come to go anywhere. The entire place is at their 
disposal.” 

“Wouldn’t have it for a gift,” murmured Nat, 
as he and Jack made their way through the dirty 
halls. 

They knocked on the door of the room which 
a ragged boy indicated as belonging to the man 
they sought. 


228 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Who’s there?” came in startled tones from 
Hemp. 

“I wish to see you,” spoke Jack. There was a 
movement in the room, a hurried walking about, 
and the door was opened. A glance showed that 
Hemp had evidently been making more silver pol- 
ish, for small boxes were all about, and there was 
a white dust visible on the scanty furniture. 

“What do you want?” began the faker, angrily, 
and then he happened to catch a glimpse of the 
faces of Nat and Jack. He jumped back, and 
was about to close the door, only Jack put his foot 
in the opening and prevented this. 

“We want to have a talk with you, Hemp 
Smith,” said our hero, sternly. 

“Hemp Smith? I’m not Hemp ” 

“That’ll do you !” interrupted Jack. “We know 
you. There’s no use beating about the bush ! We 
know enough to send you to prison for a long 
term. In fact that’s where you belong, and I don’t 
see how you got out. But that’s neither here nor 
there, now. If you answer a few questions it will 
be all right. If not ” 

He paused significantly. 

“What do you want to know?” growled the 
faker. 

“First, we’ll come inside and sit down,” went 
on Jack, coolly. “We don’t want every one to 
know our business,” and he and Nat entered, seat- 


TWO ODD LETTERS 


229 


mg themselves on the cleanest chairs in the room. 

“We want to know, first, what became of Senor 
Manacca-Fernandez,” said Jack, suddenly, “and 
also where Jerry Chowden and Jonas Lavine are. 
After you tell me that you might tell where my 
treasure box is !” 

Hemp Smith started. 

“Your treasure box?” he repeated, with the ac- 
cent on the “your.” 

“Yes, mine! n declared Jack. 

“I don’t know anything about your treasure 
box,” said Hemp. 

“Where is Caleb Herkimer?” asked Nat. 

“I never met the gentleman, so far as I know,” 
was the reply, in Hemp’s former style of a person 
of quality. 

“We know better!” snapped Jack. 

“Then if you do, you know more than I do,” 
was Hemp’s cool reply. 

“Look here !” burst out Jack. “This won’t do. 
I saw you on the yacht Dolphin , which was re- 
christened the Annahell when she was at sea, in 
violation of the law. We also saw Jerry and 
the others, as well as Senor Manacca-Fernandez. 
Now you might as well own up.” 

“All right,” and Hemp Smith grinned mali- 
ciously. “I see you are on to part of the game, 
but it don’t worry me, for I’m out of it. I did 
sail with Lavine and Chowden, but only because 


230 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 


I wanted to get to Porto Rico. I’m going to 
start a business here.” 

“Yes, a hot business you’ll start,” murmured 
Nat. 

“That’s all I know about them,” resumed 
Hemp. “I never saw Herkimer. As for that 
Spanish gentleman, he also was on board, but only 
as a passenger like myself.” 

“Where is he now?” asked Jack, eagerly; “and 
where is the treasure box he had?” 

“He didn’t have any, as far as I know,” said 
Hemp, and he seemed to be speaking the truth. 
“As for where he is now, you know as much as I 
do. He went ashore one night, when we had 
made a landing, and I haven’t seen him since.” 

“How about Caleb Herkimer?” asked Nat, 
thinking to trap the faker. 

“I never saw, nor heard of him before,” de- 
clared Hemp, and once more he seemed to be 
telling the truth. 

“Then where is the Dolphin ?” demanded Jack. 

“Ah, now you’re talking,” came from Hemp, 
and he grinned again. “Well, I can’t tell you.” 

“You mean you won’t.” 

“Put it that way if you like, but there’s nothing 
doing along that line. My friends Chowden and 
Lavine didn’t want me to talk about their business 
any more than I’d want them to talk about mine. 
I’m not going to, either.” 


TWO ODD LETTERS 


231 

“How’d you get here?” asked Nat, hoping to 
surprise the rascal into an answer. 

“By boat,” was the quick reply. Obviously it 
was true. It was the only way to reach the island. 

“Then you didn’t come in the Dolphin,” said 
Jack, for close watch had been kept on the ship- 
ping. 

“Well, I’m here, anyhow,” retorted Hemp; 
“and now, if it’s all the same to you I’d like to 
get to work, if you are through taking up room 
here, and asking me impertinent questions,” and 
he assumed an ugly air. 

“Then you refuse to tell where the Dolphin and 
her passengers are?” asked Jack. “Be careful, for 
you are still liable to arrest on several charges.” 

“I’m not afraid of you!” burst out the faker. 
“This place is too far from the United States to 
cause me any worry. I’m not going to tell you 
another thing ! Now you’d better get out. I have 
to make some silver polish to sell to-morrow.” 

There was defiance in his manner. Jack and 
Nat thought it would do little good to question 
him further, and they left. They heard Hemp 
Smith laughing as he closed the door on them. 

“Not much satisfaction out of him,” murmured 
Nat. 

“No, hang him!” agreed Jack, dubiously. 

“Oh, he’ll hang soon enough, or be electrocuted 


232 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 


if he keeps on,” added his chum. “Come on, let’s 
get back to the yacht.” 

They found their friends a little anxious about 
them, as it was long past midnight, and they 
had been away for some time. Sam was about 
to organize a relief expedition, when the two 
walked up the gangplank. 

“What luck?” called Bony. 

“Pretty poor,” rejoined Jack, and soon he was 
telling the story of the talk with Hemp Smith. 

“Maybe if we put the screws on he’d sing a 
different tune,” suggested Captain Reeger. 

“How do you mean?” asked Jack. 

“Have the police lock him up,” went on the 
commander. “It could be done, on suspicion, if 
not on some of the old charges.” 

“I’ll think about it,” answered Jack. “I’m go- 
ing to bed now, for I’m dead tired.” 

He turned in, vaguely wondering if he would 
ever see his treasure again. The chase began to 
look hopeless. 

The morning broke in a dull fog, with a prom- 
ise of a storm in the falling barometer. Budge 
Rankin went ashore for the mail, and came back 
with several letters. There were two for Jack, 
and both bore San Juan postmarks, while one had 
evidently been mailed in Ponce. 

“I should know that writing,” murmured our 
hero, as he glanced at one letter, addressed in a 


TWO ODD LETTERS 


233 


feminine hand. “It looks like the note Miss Ma- 
nacca-Fernandez left for me.” Quickly he tore 
open the envelope. He read the few words at a 
glance, and a cry of astonishment escaped him. 
For his eyes took in this: 

“Senor Ranger: I do not know how to write 
this to you, but I must. I have greatly wronged 
you. It is your treasure box after all. It does 
not belong to us. There has been some terrible 
mistake. I pray you not to prosecute my brother, 
but he has your box. If you will proceed to a 
small island, known as ‘Cavern Island,’ which is 
not far from Vieques Island, off the eastern point 
of Porto Rico, you will there find your treasure, 
in a cave. My brother has it there. He has been 
betrayed and deserted, and I have just learned of 
his whereabouts. Forgive my conduct toward you. 
It was a great mistake. Please forgive my 
brother. He thought he was doing right. I am 
broken-hearted. 

“Lola Manacca-Fernandez.” 

“Whew!” whistled Jack. “Worse and more 
of it! On the track of my treasure box at last! 
Hurrah! Now for Cavern Island!” 

Then he bethought himself of the other letter. 
It was obviously in a man’s handwriting, and was 
rather soiled, as if it had been carried in some 


234 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

one’s pocket for a time. Jack ripped it open. It 
was read at a glance. 

“Jack Ranger: If you want your treasure 
box back, and will pay $1,000 for it, you may 
have it. If you wish to enter into negotiations 
with me, send a line to me in care of Senor Ra- 
phael Dupoy, San Juan, saying you will pay the 
money. I will then return the box to you.” 

“Wow! Another offer!” murmured Jack, and, 
when his eyes took in the signature, he uttered 
another exclamation, for the second letter was 
signed by Caleb Herkimer! 


CHAPTER XXVI 

OFF FOR CAVERN ISLAND 

“Say, fellows, look here!” cried Jack, as soon 
hs he had finished reading the two odd letters. 
“Here’s something doing!” and he gave them the 
contents of both, rapidly. 

“Solidified sunbeams!” ejaculated Nat, “things 
are happening with a vengeance, Jack. Wash- 
ington Hall isn’t in it, with this yachting cruise. 
Two offers of your treasure box in one mail. Are 
there any more letters, Budge? Maybe there’s a 
box for each of us.” 

“Salllave,” announced Budge, chewing his gum. 

“No more, eh?” from Sam. “Well, now we’ll 
help Jack unravel his mystery. What are you 
going to do, Jack?” 

“Hanged if I know. This has got me going,” 
and our hero scratched his head with a puzzled 
air. He then told his chums of the girl’s double 
yiame. 

“I’d take up with the offer of Miss Manacca- 
Fernandez,” said Sam. “It’s evident that she’s 
telling the truth. But what does she mean by 
saying it’s a mistake?” 

235 


236 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“I don’t know,” answered Jack, “unless she in- 
tends to say that she and her brother thought 
my box was their box, and that he took it by mis- 
take.” 

“Wasn’t much mistake about it, I guess,” re- 
marked Nat. “I think it was a put-up job between 
those two Spanish people.” 

“You dry up!” commanded Jack. “Miss Ma- 
nacca-Fernandez tells the truth!” 

“Then why does she ask you not to prosecute 
her brother if it was a mistake?” asked Nat, in 
triumph. 

“I don’t know,” and Jack shook his head. 
“Anyhow, I believe her.” 

“And you’re going to set off for Cavern 
Island?” asked Captain Reeger. 

“Let’s find out what sort of a place it is,” sug- 
gested Sam. “Maybe it’s not safe to go to.” 

“What’s the matter with taking up Caleb Her- 
kimer’s offer?” asked Bony. “He seems to know 
what he’s talking about. Besides, I really think 
he took the box, together with the judge’s money 
and papers. Maybe we can arrest him, Jack.” 

“Not much danger. He’s too slick a customer,” 
was Jack’s opinion. “But I don’t know what to 
do about his offer. I believe he did have my 
treasure box, but whether he has it now ” 

“Or whether he stole it away from the Spanish 
brother and sister ” interrupted Nat, who 


OFF FOR CAVERN ISLAND 


23 7 


seemed to take delight in thus tormenting Jack. 

His chum glared at him. 

“I don’t know what to think,” went on our 
hero. “I guess Sam’s suggestion is as good as 
any. First we’ll find out something about Cavern 
Island. Then we’ll consider the offer of Caleb 
Herkimer. But I think he’s up to some game.” 

Information about Cavern Island was easy 
enough to obtain. It was a small and desolate 
bit of land in that part of the sea, and was dis- 
tant about a hundred miles from Vieques Island, 
which latter lay about twenty miles off Cayo Ba- 
tato, Porto Rico. There was fresh water to be 
obtained on Cavern Island, which took its name 
from the fact that there was a large cave on it. 
In fact that was about all the island was — a cave. 
Ships sometimes stopped there, but it was not a 
place in good repute, for it was frequently the 
abiding spot for criminals who escaped from Cu- 
ban and Porto Rican jails. Of late years, how- 
ever, since United States rule in the islands, there 
had been no complaints from it, and the latest 
information was to the effect that no one was on 
the island. 

“But we know differently,” said Jack. “Miss 
Manacca-Fernandez says her brother is there with 
my treasure box. So I’m going there and get it.” 

“What about Herkimer?” asked Nat. 

“I’ll see what I can do with him, too,” went on 


238 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Jack. “I’m going to get into communication with 
this Dupoy. He’s evidently some tool for Herki- 
mer.” 

A letter to Senor Raphael Dupoy brought a 
prompt response, and Jack was invited to call 
alone at a given address. 

“If you bring any one with you, entrance will 
be denied,” the letter stated. “But have no fear. 
My home is in the main part of the town, and 
the police are near at hand. You will come to 
no harm.” 

“I’m going and take a chance,” decided Jack, 
though his chums endeavored to dissuade him. 
“Maybe Herkimer is there, and I can have it out 
with him.” 

“Will you pay the thousand dollars?” asked 
Nat. 

“I’ll see,” replied Jack. 

“Don’t you do it,” urged Sam. “If Herkimer 
offers you the box for that sum, it’s because he’s 
looted it. There’s nothing in it now, I’ll wager.” 

It was dark when Jack started off to keep his 
appointment with Senor Dupoy. He found the 
house was one of the better class, in a respectable 
part of the town, so he knew he had little to fear. 
There was a wait after his knock, and he felt that 
he was being scrutinized through some blind, or 
shutter. Then the door opened, and he was bid- 
den to enter, by a pleasant-faced Spanish girl. 


OFF FOR CAVERN ISLAND 


239 


“Ah, Senor Ranger,” spoke a stout Spaniard, a 
few minutes later, entering the room where Jack 
sat. “Have you brought the thousand dollars?” 
he asked, eagerly. 

“Not just yet,” was Jack’s answer. “I wanted 
to find out more before I got the money. Besides, 
I have not that much cash available.” 

“Then we can do no business,” was the cold an- 
swer. “You were told to bring a thousand dol- 
lars.” 

“I don’t always do as I am told,” was Jack’s 
grim reply. “Is Caleb Herkimer here? Are you 
a friend of his? If you are, you might tell him 
that, sooner or later, he’ll be arrested, not only 
for the theft of my box, but because of the money 
and papers he took from Judge Bennett.” 

“I can give you no information of Senor Herki- 
mer,” was the Spaniard’s cold answer. “You 
must comply with the conditions of his letter. I 
merely agreed to serve him in this matter. You 
cannot see him. If you bring the money here, a 
certain box will be returned to you. That is all 
I am authorized to say.” 

“But will there be anything in the box?” asked 
Jack. 

“I know not,” was the Spaniard’s reply. “I 
should think, though, that there would be in it all 
that there was when it was taken away. Of a 
surety, yes.” 


240 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Tm not buying pigs in pokes,” murmured Jack. 

“Ah, the Senor is pleased to call me a pig!” 
exclaimed the man, with an angry gesture. 

“No, no!” exclaimed our hero, with a laugh. 
“I beg your pardon. I was merely reciting a 
proverb of my country. Well, I am sorry, but I 
cannot hand over a thousand dollars without some 
other assurance, than a mere guess, that I’ll get 
what I’m paying for. It’s too risky.” 

“As the Senor pleases,” answered Dupoy. “I 
have the honor to bid you good evening, and I 
hope you will not regret your choice.” 

“But can’t you tell me more about it?” ex- 
claimed Jack. “Who has my box now? Where 
is Caleb Herkimer?” 

“It is useless to question, Senor. I bid you good 
evening,” and the Spaniard handed Jack his hat. 
It was equivalent to a dismissal. Somewhat angry, 
our hero arose. He felt that he could accomplish 
little by further talk. The time had come to act. 

“Tell Caleb Herkimer,” he said, purposely rais- 
ing his voice so that the scoundrel, if he was in the 
place, might hear him, “tell him that he’ll soon 
be in jail, and that I’ll have my treasure box back 
without having to pay a cent.” 

“Ha! The Senor is pleased to joke,” mur- 
mured Dupoy. “I have the honor, once more, to 
bid you good evening,” and he bowed low and 
mockingly. 


OFF FOR CAVERN ISLAND 


241 


Jack slammed the door shut after him, and 
hurried down the street. So far his mission had 
been a failure. 

‘‘But we’ll see what happens on Cavern 
Island,” he said. “I believe the Spanish girl is 
telling the truth. I’ll get my treasure box after 
all!” 

The next morning the Sea Bird set sail for Cav- 
ern Island, her motor humming and throbbing, 
•and the screw beating the waves to foam. 


CHAPTER XXVII 

HELPLESS AT SEA 

“Well, this is something like!” exclaimed Sam 
Chalmers, as he paced the deck of his uncle’s 
yacht, and looked off across the calm ocean. 
“Great, isn’t it, fellows?” 

“Smoked sunflowers! I should say so!” ex- 
claimed Nat. “It’s the best ever. I’m hungry 
already. This sea air is great. Say, Budge, when 
are you and Skeleton going to serve dinner?” 

“Soonzitsdone,” was the mumbling answer. 

“What’s it going to be?” asked Bony, who was 
so glad to be at sea again, that he forgot to crack 
his knuckles. 

“Chickensee,” answered Budge, pulling out his 
gum, and winding it up again on his tongue. 

“Chickensee?” repeated Sam, looking at Budge 
in wonder. 

“ ’Swatlsaid.” 

“He means chicken fricassee,” interpreted Nat. 
“Mystifying mastodons! Why don’t you talk 
English, Budge?” 

“ ’Slikeyours,” murmured the odd chap, that 
being his way of saying, “It’s like yours.” 

242 


HELPLESS AT SEA 


243 


“He’s got you there !” exclaimed Sam. “Say, 
Jack, what’s the matter with you?” and he turned 
to his chum. “You’ve said hardly a word since 
we started. What’s wrong?” 

“Jack has a heavy thinking part in this mystery 
play,” ventured Nat. 

“That’s right,” agreed his chum, with a smile. 
“I have got a lot to think about, fellows; but I 
didn’t mean to be unsociable. I certainly think 
this voyage is great ! It’s the finest outing we’ve 
ever had together.” 

“And if we could only get your treasure box 
we’d have a better time yet,” went on Sam. “It 
certainly gets me what has become of that box.” 

“Oh, I’ll find it yet!” declared Jack, confidently. 
“I think the information Miss Manacca-Fernan- 
dez gave can be relied upon.” 

“Why didn’t you bring along some police, or 
detectives?” asked Sam. “You may need their 
help if you get to the island, and have a fight with 
those fellows.” 

“I’d rather do without them,” declared Jack. 
“In the first place, you can’t rely on any native 
police, and in the second place, I don’t want to get 
Miss Manacca-Fernandez’s brother in trouble. 
She asked me to spare him. 

“And you’re going to, after he took your treas- 
ure box?” asked Bony. 

“I don’t know that he took it,” retorted Jack, 


244 JACK RANGER'S TREASURE BOX 

quickly. “His sister says it was a mistake; that 
he has it now, and she tells me where I can find 
it. That doesn’t say that the Spaniard stole it.” 

“Either he or Caleb Herkimer did,” declared 

Nat. 

“Well, that’s what we’ve got to find out,” and 
Jack walked back and forth on the deck. The 
boys continued to talk of the mystery of the miss- 
ing box. In fact it formed the chief topic of 
conversation at all times, for of late everything 
seemed to hinge on its recovery. 

Forward sped the Sea Bird covering knot after 
knot, on her way to Cavern Island. What would 
happen when she got there? That was the ques- 
tion each schoolboy yachtsman was asking him- 
self; and not without some apprehension. 

The fricasseed chicken met with an untimely 
fate when the five lads and Captain Reeger sat 
down to the table, for Budge ate with his friends. 
Skeleton, with his black face shining with grease, 
and pride, brought in platter after platter of the 
delicious food, and — went back for more. 

“These Porto Rican chickens certainly have a 
fine flavor, fellows,” remarked Jack, passing his 
plate for — well, never mind how many times he 
passed it. Sea air does give one such an appetite. 

“Dey’s all right, Massa Jack, only dey’s mon- 
strous small,” objected Skeleton, who overheard 
the remark. “I done cooked ten, an’ ” 


HELPLESS AT SEA 


245 


“Ten chickens!” ejaculated Captain Reeger. 

“Yais, sah, an’ dey’s mos’ all gone, too.” 

“Then we’d better let up, fellows,” observed 
Sam. “The crew will want something.” 

“Filluponpie,” remarked Budge, plying his 
knife and fork industriously. 

“Oh, there’s pie; is there?” inquired Jack. 
“Then I guess we’ll have mercy on the rest of 
the chickens,” and the dinner was finished on des- 
sert and coffee. 

For the rest of that day the yacht made good 
progress, the lads aiding in the management of 
her, and when night came Captain Reeger gave 
orders to make everything snug below and aloft. 

“Expect a storm?” asked Jack. 

“Well, the barometer is falling, and that indi- 
cates something. It may be nothing worse than 
a blow, but in this region, with small islands on 
every side, and no very good charts to go by, I’d 
rather take no chances.” 

The wind did rise about eight o’clock, and the 
boys awoke at midnight to find themselves pitch- 
ing and tossing about, it being hard work to main- 
tain oneself in the berth. But the Sea Bird 
struggled gallantly on, staggering through big 
green waves; and when morning came the boys 
looked out on a tumultuous sea, for the wind was 
a gale now, and was increasing. Life lines were 


246 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

rigged along the decks, and the boys were warned 
by Captain Reeger to take no chances. 

The young yachtsmen had gotten up early, for 
sleep was practically out of the question in their 
rolling berths, and went out on deck after their 
morning wash-up. 

‘‘We’ll have to take quarter cups of coffee at 
breakfast,” observed Sam, as he held on to the 
rail. “If Skeleton fills ’em more than half full 
they’ll slop all over.” 

“Half a cup is better than no ice-cream,” re- 
marked Jack, misquoting the proverb. “Well, 
here comes Skeleton to ask us if we’ll kindly step 
below. Let’s save him the trouble and go without 
being asked. I’m ready.” 

As the boys made their way toward the cabin, 
there suddenly sounded a loud report from the 
motor room. At once the yacht lost headway, hes- 
itated a moment on the crest of a wave, slid down 
into the trough of the sea, and then began wal- 
lowing about, rolling like a log, while wave after 
wave boarded her. 

“Something’s happened !” yelled Jack. “Quick ! 
Get the cover on the companion hatch or we’ll 
be flooded!” 

They rushed below, and the cover was bat- 
tened down. Then they made their way to the 
engine room, where they could see Captain Ree« 


HELPLESS AT SEA 247 

ger, and the two machinists, bending over the 
motor. 

“What’s the matter?” asked Jack. 

“One of the cylinders has cracked,” explained 
Captain Reeger. 

“Can we fix it? Have we a spare one?” in- 
quired Jack. 

“Yes,” replied Jensen, “but it’s going to be quite 
a job, and will take some time. We can’t make 
any progress, as the intake pipe is damaged. 

“We’ll have to lay to ” 

“In this wind?” cried Captain Reeger. “We’ll 
be swamped, man!” 

The machinist shrugged his shoulders. “Can’t 
help it,” he said. “We’re helpless now.” 

The Sea Bird , like a creature with a broken 
wing, was fluttering helplessly in the tumult of 
waters. Every moment seemed to make it worse. 
The boys looked at each other with anxious faces. 


CHAPTER XXVIII 

BUDGE FALLS OVERBOARD 

“How long will it take to get out the cracked 
cylinder, put in a new one, and start the motor?” 
asked Captain Reeger. 

“Half a day, at the very least,” answered Jen- 
sen. “It’s a hard job.” 

“And the wind is getting worse,” murmured 
the commander. Even as he spoke there came 
a staggering sea that threw the yacht over almost 
on her beam’s ends, and sent the boys sprawling 
across the motor compartment. The crash of wa- 
ter on the deck above their heads sounded like 
a deluge. 

“We’ve got to do something, boys!” exclaimed 
the captain. “We haven’t steerageway now, and 
that’s what makes her roll so. We’ll either have 
to fix up a drag, or try to get some sail on her. 
We have sails, haven’t we?” and the commander 
looked at Sam. 

“Sure. Uncle hardly ever used ’em, but he 
always carried some in case of emergencies, and 
I guess this is one. They’re not very big, but we 
248 


BUDGE FALLS OVERBOARD 


249 


can bend them on the forward and aft signal masts, 
and it may keep us before the wind.” 

“Then come on deck, all hands except Jensen 
and Hanson, and we’ll see what we can do,” went 
on Captain Reeger. 

It was hard work on the pitching deck to get 
out the pieces of canvas and raise them on the 
small masts; especially hard for lads not used to 
that sort of work. But they went grimly at it, 
though they had to cling fast with one hand to 
prevent being tossed overboard, and work with 
the other. 

At last the canvas stretched out, bellying 
in the strong wind, and at once the yacht swung 
around to meet the new force that had her in 
charge — a force sufficiently strong, even with the 
small area of sail spread, to send her along at 
a fast clip. The improvement was immediate. 
Out of the trough of the sea the trim little vessel 
came, once more to ride the waves buoyantly, 
and with Captain Reeger at the helm, she was 
soon on her course again, flying forward before 
the gale. 

“Now, if you boys will watch the wheel, I’ll 
go below and see what I can do to aid the ma- 
chinists,” said the captain to Sam and Jack. 
“Budge will help us, for he’s not needed up here, 
*nd I’ll have Skeleton bring you up some hot cof- 
fee,” for breakfast had not yet been served. 


250 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

The colored cook, with much groaning and trib- 
ulation, did manage to get up on deck with a 
pitcher of coffee, and some empty cups, but when 
he endeavored to pour out the beverage he came 
to grief. For he let go his hold of the rail, and 
a sudden wave, slewing the yacht around, sent 
Skeleton’s feet from under him, he came down 
with a thud on the deck, his over abundance of 
fat quivering all over, while the pitcher smashed, 
and the coffee mingled with the sea water, the cups 
crashing into small bits. 

“Whoa, Skeleton! Where are you going?” 
cried Jack. 

“Dat’s what I’d laik t’ know, Massa Jack,” was 
the rueful answer. “ ’Pears laik I were bound fo’ 
Davy Jones’s locker. Yais, sah, Massa Davy 
done called me good an’ strong dat time. ’Spects 
I’d better stay below.” 

“Yes,” agreed Jack, seeing how difficult it would 
be to serve anything on deck. “We’ll take turns 
at it. Bony and Nat, you go below and get some 
grub. Sam and I will stay at the wheel. When 
you have had enough come up and relieve us.” 

“Don’t say that,” begged Sam. 

“Say what?” 

“Why, when they’s had ‘enough.’ Bony never 
gets enough. That’s why he’s so thin. Just say 
when they’ve eaten half the grub there is, to come 
up. Leave the other half for us.” 


BUDGE FALLS OVERBOARD 


251 


“All right,” agreed Jack. “Go ahead, fellows.” 

The lads were in lighter mood, now that the 
yacht was moving ahead over the waves, instead 
of trying to dive under them. Nat and Bony soon 
relieved Jack and Sam at the wheel, and after the 
latter had eaten a breakfast under considerable 
difficulties, for the table was like the slanting roof 
of a house at times, they went to the engine room. 

They found that the machinists and the captain, 
with the efficient aid of Budge, had removed the 
cracked cylinder, and were getting ready to put in 
the new one. Their work was hampered by the 
rolling and pitching of the craft, and the boys 
had to lend their aid in the work. All the rest 
of the morning, and part of the afternoon, they 
labored, and about four o’clock the captain an- 
nounced that they would try to start the motor. 

There were a few anxious moments, when the 
machinery, with a series of coughs, sobs, sighs 
and goans, could not seem to make up its mind 
what to do. But finally, after the fly wheel had 
been turned over several times, there was the 
welcome ”chug-chug”, and the screw began to re- 
volve. 

It was well that they started the motor as 
they did, for there came a sudden gust of wind a 
moment later, that carried away the forward sail, 
and strained the bolt-ropes of the other well-nigh 
to the breaking point. Had the sails been ren- 


052 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

dered useless, and had the motor not started, the 
vessel might have been wrecked, for an efficient 
drag, to keep her head around, could hardly have 
been gotten over in time. As it was, they won 
out by a narrow margin, and once more they were 
moving along under the power of gasolene. 

The accident had been a misfortune in another 
way, for they had been blown off their course by 
the storm, and now had many knots to cover ere 
they could be back on it again. But there was no 
help for it. 

The next day the wind died down, the sea 
calmed, and the craft had easier going, for which 
the boys were thankful. 

It was toward the close of a pleasant afternoon, 
that had succeeded the storm, and the boys crowd- 
ed to the rail, for Captain Reeger had told them 
that they might, at any time now, sight Cavern 
Island. With a telescope, and a pair of powerful 
glasses, the schoolboy yachtsmen were eagerly 
scanning the horizon for a sight of a dark speck 
that would proclaim the object of their cruise. 

“There it is ! I see it !” cried Nat, who had the 
telescope. “Right over there ! My, but it’s small, 
though!” 

“Let me see?” suggested Captain Reeger, com- 
ing aft, and leaving one of the machinists at the 
wheel. 

He looked long and earnestly. 





AN INSTANT LATER HE LEAPED OVER THE 
SIDE AFTER BUDGE. 


Jack Ranger's Treasure Box 


Rage 254 

















































































% 







































4 









• . 






















* 
















































I 
















































BUDGE FALLS OVERBOARD 


253 


“That isn’t the island,” he said, at length. “It’s 
a vessel, making her way toward it, though, for 
she’s on the same course that we are.” 

“What sort of a vessel?” asked Jack. 

“I can’t make her out, but she seems rather 
small, — not much larger than the Sea Bird ” 

“Maybe it’s ” Jack began, and then he 

stopped. He was about to suggest that it was the 
Dolphin, but he concluded that he would make no 
guesses. 

“Well, we’ll soon pick her up, and raise the 
island, too, I think,” went on the captain, as he 
walked forward. 

“Let’s have a look,” suggested Budge, throw- 
ing away his gum, and wanting to do something 
in the interval of inserting a fresh supply. “Can 
you make out a vessel through that telescope?” 

“I can’t see anything but some smoke,” said 
Nat, “but Captain Reeger has better eyesight. 
Here, Budge.” 

He handed the lad the brass instrument, and 
Budge, leaning far over the rail, endeavored to 
pick out the speck which the commander had said 
was a vessel. He had some difficulty in finding it, 
as, indeed, most persons would have had. He 
shifted his position, and was transferring the glass 
from his left to his right eye, when the yacht gave 
a little roll. 

Instinctively Budge tried to balance himself, but 


254 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

one foot slipped on a rope’s end, and, a moment 
later, the telescope fell from his hand to the desk, 
while Budge, with outstretched hands, went over 
the railing into the sea. 

“Man overboard! Man overboard!” bawled 
Sam. 

“Budge is overboard!” cried Nat. 

Sam, with ready wit, threw after the lad a life 
buoy, and ran to tell Captain Reeger to stop the 
craft. As for Jack, he stripped off his coat, and, 
with another motion got rid of his rubber-soled 
yachting shoes. An instant later he leaped over 
the side after Budge. 


CHAPTER XXIX 

A STARTLING DISCOVERY 

“Lower the boat!” cried Bony, springing to 
where, at the davits, swung a small craft. “Lower 
the boat!” 

“I’ll help!” shouted Nat 

The two cast off the ropes from the holding 
cleats, and the boat was swung outward. Then 
the two lads lowered away. 

“Can you see ’em,” yelled Bony. 

“No, they’re quite a distance astern!” answered 
Nat. “But come on! Slide down the davit 
ropes !” 

The sea was so calm that the boat lay easily 
alongside, and the falls had not unhooked. Nat 
and Bony slid down into the craft, and cast her 
loose. 

By this time Captain Reeger had been told by 
Sam what had happened, and at once threw the 
lever of the engine room telegraph over to full 
speed astern. The yacht slowed up, quivered 
from end to end, and began to move backward. 

Sam and the captain ran to the after deck. They 
could see Jack swimming around, but there was no 
sight of Budge. 


255 


'256 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“He’s — he’s gone under for the last time!” 
gasped Sam. 

“Nonsense!” exclaimed the captain. “He’s 
around here somewhere. They’ll pick him up. 
Didn’t you tell me he was a good swimmer?” 

“Yes, but ” 

By this time the boat, containing Nat and Bony, 
was close to Jack. 

“See anything of him?” yelled Nat. 

“No !” panted Jack, for it was hard work swim- 
ming about in his clothes. 

“There’s the life buoy over there,” added Bony, 
standing up and pointing to the white, canvas- 
covered, cork ring. 

“Yes, and by the hifaluting Halifax, if Budge 
isn’t inside of it !” shouted Nat. “I never thought 
to look for him there. Pull over that way, Bony !” 

They bent to the oars, Jack, too, started to 
swim in the same direction. 

“There he is ! They see him !” cried Sam, from 
the deck of the yacht. “Oh, if they can only get 
to him in time. Can’t you put the Sea Bird over 
there, Captain Reeger?” 

“There is no need. They can rescue him in the 
small boat better than we can. I guess he’s all 
right.” 

In a few seconds more the small boat was close 
to Budge, Jack having climbed in as it passed him. 
He sat, dripping wet, in the stern. As for Budge, 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 


257 


that odd lad was clinging to the life buoy, and 
floating along as unconcernedly as if he was lying 
on his back in the mill pond at Denton, chewing 
gum. 

“Are you all right, Budge?” questioned Bony. 

“Sure. But you fellows were long enough com- 
ing after me.” 

“Long enough!” gasped Nat, indignantly. 
“Well, I like your nerve! We lowered the boat 
in record time; didn’t we, Bony?” 

“Sure. Why didn’t you swim in, Budge?” 

“Oh, I thought you’d be along some time or 
other; and it was nice and comfortable here, as 
long as there aren’t any sharks.” 

“There comes one now!” yelled Jack, leaping 
up, and with a dramatic gesture pointing past 
Budge. The odd lad merely raised himself 
slightly in the water, by means of the buoy, glanced 
around, and settled back. 

“Rats!” he exclaimed. “If there’d been any in 
these waters I’d been eaten long ago. Put the 
boat alongside and I’ll get in. Did you bring any 
gum with you?” 

“Gum !” sniffed Jack. “It’s a pity you didn’t 
take some along when you went overboard! 
Climb in now, and don’t get me all wet” 

Seeing that Jack was soaked, it was hard to 
understand how he could be any wetter. 

Budge clambered in, making little puddles of 


258 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

water all over the boat, which Nat and Bony 
tried to avoid. But they were pretty well spat- 
tered before they got back to the yacht. 

“Don’t try that again, please,” cautioned Cap- 
tain Reeger, as Budge came up on deck, lugging 
the life buoy with him. 

“Why; did I bust the telescope?” asked the 
queer lad. 

“No. Fortunately it fell on a coil of rope. But 
you held us up, and every minute counts now. I 
want to hurry to Cavern Island and see what other 
vessel is heading for it.” 

“All right, I’ll be careful,” promised Budge, 
and he went below for dry clothes, soon reappear- 
ing on deck with a wad of gum, as big as a walnut, 
in his cheek. 

The Sea Bird was soon on her way again, and, 
as she reeled off knot after knot, the speck of land 
that represented the island became dimly visible, 
and rapidly grew larger. The smoke from the 
other vessel was no longer to be seen. 

The commander got out his charts, and studied 
the sea about the island. There was fairly deep 
water up to within a short distance of it, but, 
fearing rocks or hidden shoals, the captain decided 
to anchor a short distance away, and land in the 
small launch. 

Nearer and nearer approached the Sea Bird. 
The island could be plainly seen with the naked 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 


259 

eye, and, under the glasses loomed up compara- 
tively large. 

“There doesn’t seem to be any life on it,” ob- 
served Jack. 

“It’s too soon to tell,” was Sam’s opinion. 
“Maybe you’ll find the Spaniard, and his pretty 
sister, waiting on shore to hand you the treasure 
box.” 

“I hope so,” murmured Jack, looking with anx- 
ious eyes at the speck of land in the waste of 
waters. 

With a splash, the anchor of the Sea Bird was 
let go. The craft swung at the chain, and drifted 
broadside to the island. The launch was lowered, 
and the four boys, with Captain Reeger, went 
ashore. Budge and the machinists were left in 
charge of the yacht. 

“Doesn’t appear to be anything doing,” re- 
marked Nat. “All I see are birds flying around.” 

“You forget that we’ve got to go to the cave,” 
suggested Jack, in a quiet voice- “It’s there where 
the box is said to be.” 

“Maybe it’s all a joke on the part of the pretty 
Spanish girl,” suggested Nat. “Girls are queer, 
and have funny ideas of fun. Maybe she’s sent 
you on this wild goose chase to get rid of you.” 

“That’ll do you,” said Jack, still quietly, but 
Nat saw that his chum meant what he said. 

The launch grounded on a gently sloping, sandy 


260 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

shore, and, carrying the kedge anchor up the 
beach, the prongs were stuck in the sand, to pre- 
vent the rising tide from carrying the launch out 
to sea. 

“Well, we’re here, anyhow,” said Sam. “I 
don’t see anything of another vessel, either.” 

“No, the place seems deserted,” remarked Cap- 
tain Reeger. “But suppose we take a stroll about. 
Maybe we can find the cave.” 

They began a systematic circuit of the island, 
which was not more than eight miles in circum- 
ference. As they went along they kept careful 
watch for any signs of persons now on the place, 
or having been there recendy. There were none, 
however. 

“We’re like Robinson Crusoe,” remarked Bony, 
with a laugh, “looking for footprints in the sand.” 

“But I understood the cave was a large one,” 
said Jack, “and what gets me is that we haven’t 
seen a sight of it, and we’ve walked two or three 
miles.” 

“It is rather odd,” agreed Captain Reeger. 
“Perhaps the entrance to it is concealed.” 

They kept on for some little time longer. The 
island was hilly in the centre, sloping down on 
all sides to the sea. The cave might be in the 
centre, where there was a large hill. 

When they had completed half the circuit of the 
place, Jack proposed that they go inland for a 


A STARTLING DISCOVERY 


261 


distance, and get a view of the island from the 
top of a mound. They started, finding the way 
rather difficult on account of many large boulders. 
Jack was in the lead, eagerly advancing. He 
made a turn around a clump of bushes, and, a mo- 
ment later, he held up his hand with a cautionary 
gesture. 

“What is it?” whispered Nat. 

“Don’t you hear voices?” asked Jack. 

They listened. From somewhere, seemingly 
beneath them, could be heard the murmur of men’s 
tones. 

“We’re near the cave,” whispered Sam. “Go 
on, Jack!” 

Jack advanced. His foot slipped, and, to save 
himself from falling, he grasped at a small tree. 
It came away in his hands, being uprooted, but 
the hold was sufficient to prevent him from top 
pling over. 

The next instant he uttered a low, startled cry, 
and pointed to the spot where the tree had been. 
In its place was a hole, where the roots had pulled 
out. But the strangest part of it was that the 
hole showed a glimmer of light — a flash as from 
some lantern. 

As the other pressed eagerly forward to look, 
some more dirt fell away, making the opening 
larger. Then they saw that they were looking 


262 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

down into a cave, and by the gleam of lights in 
it they made a startling discovery. 

Grouped in the centre of the cavern were a 
number of persons, and, as Jack looked, he whis- 
pered: 

“Jonas Lavine, Hemp Smith and Jerry Chow- 
den! They’re in there!” 

“Any one else,” asked Sam. 

“Yes, there’s Caleb Herkimer!” 

“The scoundrel !” gasped Nat. “I wonder how 
he got in with them? Do you see your treasure 
box?” 

“No, but — by Jove! fellows, they have the 
Spaniard — Senor Manacca-Fernandez, tied to a 
stake in the middle of the cave, and they’re going 
to torture him ! They’ve got a big rawhide whip ! 
We must rescue him!” 

Jack sprang back, as if about to enlarge the 
hole, and leap into the cave. 

“Wait,” said Captain Reeger, quietly. 


CHAPTER XXX 

THE EMPTY BOX 

Jack looked at the commander in surprise. 

“But — but ” he whispered, motioning to- 

ward the cave. “We can’t stand here, and let 
them lash him to death !” 

“And we can’t break in there through this hole,” 
added the commander. “In the first place, it is 
too small, and if we started to enlarge it they’d 
take the alarm and get away. It is quite a dis- 
tance from here to where they are.” This was 
so, as the cavern was a large one. 

“Then what had we better do?” asked Jack, 
and the other lads waited anxiously for the cap- 
tain’s answer. “I’m sure my treasure box is 
there,” went on Jack, “and I want it.” 

“I don’t blame you a bit,” replied the captain, 
quietly. “But we want to go at this in the right 
way. I don’t see anything of the box, but possibly 
it may be in the cave. However, if we attempted 
to rush in now they would either hide it where 
you nor I could not find it, or they would escape 
with it. What I propose is this: You and I will 
remain here, on guard. We can stay and listen 
263 


264 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

unobserved, for they are not aware that we are 
here. Then we can hear and see what goes on. In 
the meantime Sam had better go back to the yacht 
and tell Budge and the others to get ready for 
action.” 

“What sort of action?” asked Sam. 

“I don’t know, exactly, but I think something 
will happen shortly, and it is well to be prepared. 
Nat, I wish you and Bony would take a stroll 
about, going as cautiously as you can, and see if 
you can find the main entrance to this cave. Some- 
how or other, we seemed to have missed it. If 
you find it in, say an hour, come back here and 
tell us. We will wait here that length of time; 
Jack and I. If you don’t return in sixty minutes 
we’ll look you up. Now, be careful, and don’t run 
into danger.” 

“Tell Bony not to crack his finger joints,” sug- 
gested Nat. “That will surely give us away.” 

“I — I’ll try not to do it,” promised the thin lad. 

They had been talking in whispers, and their 
presence at the hole that opened into the cave had 
not been noticed. Our friends had, from time 
to time, glanced down into the cavern. They 
could see the unfortunate Spaniard tied to a post 
in the centre of the vaulted space, while around 
him were grouped Lavine, Hemp Smith, Jerry 
Chowden and Caleb Herkimer. 

Herkimer had a heavy, rawhide whip, which 


THE EMPTY BOX 


265 

he cracked from time to time in a suggestive and 
cruel manner. The four rascals seemed to be 
holding a conference, and the Spaniard, in spite 
of his bound condition, looked at them indiffer- 
ently, and even scornfully. 

“I wonder what they can be up to?” said Jack. 

“We’ll soon find out,” was the captain’s reply. 
“Now, Sam, you and the others had better start 
off.” 

Sam, Bony and Nat had not been gone three 
minutes ere the conference in the cave broke up. 
It had been carried on among Lavine and the 
others in such low tones that neither Jack nor 
the captain could hear anything that was said. 
Now the time for action semed to have arrived. 

Caleb Herkimer approached the bound man, 
snapping the heavy whip. He stood a short dis- 
tance from the Spaniard, and addressed him, in 
tones that carried to Jack and the captain. 

“There’s no use fooling over this thing any 
longer,” Herkimer said. “We’ve had a talk, and 
we’ve decided to make you tell us the secret of 
the treasure box.” 

“Never!” exclaimed Senor Fernandez. “I will 
never tell. It is my secret — not yours!” 

“We’ll see about that!” jeered Jonas Lavine. 

“I guess that whip will make you talk,”- added 
Jerry Chowden, with a cruel smile on his ugly 
face. 


266 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Then Herkimer hasn’t the treasure box after 
all,” whispered Jack to the captain. “The Span- 
iard has it and won’t tell where it is.” 

“Hush!” cautioned the commander. 

“Are you going to tell, or not?” demanded Ca- 
leb, approaching closer to the captive, and snap- 
ping the whip almost in his face. “Are you going 
to tell us what we want to know, or not?” 

“Never!” almost shouted the Spaniard. 

“I’ll give you one more chance,” went on the 
former clerk of Judge Bennett. 

“He’s had chances enough!” interrupted Jonas 
Lavine. “Lay the lash on his back a few times, 
and he’ll sing a different tune. Come on, Hemp. 
You and I will strip him, and then the dance will 
begin.” 

Jack could hardly hold himself back from mak- 
ing his way into the cave, when he saw Lavine 
and the faker go up to the captive, and fairly 
tear his clothing from his back, ready for the cruel 
lash. 

“Now, go ahead,” ordered Lavine. “Lay ’em 
on good, Herkimer! Make him tell us the secret. 
He’s got the stuff hidden away somewhere, and 
we’re going to have it!” 

Herkimer rolled up his sleeves, and took a 
firmer grip on the handle of the whip. The others 
jnoved back, and he stood at the side of the cap- 
tive. 


THE EMPTY BOX 


267 


“Now, then,” he said, “I’ll ask you once more, 
and for the last time. Will you tell us the secret 
of the treasure box?” 

“Never! Never! Never !” cried the Spaniard. 
“You may lash me to pieces, but I will never tell! 
That treasure belongs to me, and to my sister. It 
is for her — if I die !” 

Jack, looking in on the scene, could not repress 
a shudder. He wondered if he could hold himself 
back when the lashing began. He was afraid not. 
He looked at Captain Reeger. The commander 
was pale. 

“Think a moment,” went on Herkimer. “When 
I helped you to get this box, you agreed to share 
with me part of what was in it.” 

“They must have stolen it together !” whispered 
Jack. He was beginning to understand some 
things now. 

“When I helped you get it from the Judge’s 
office,” went on Herkimer, “you said you would 
share with me.” 

“So I did, and so I would have done!” burst 
out the captive. “But you played me false ! You 
stole the box from me, and made away with it — 
you and your confederates. I pursued you, and 
caught you, but you have forfeited any share in 
the treasure, for you tried to steal it all for your- 
self.” 

“I only did what you would have done,” sneered 


268 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

the former law clerk. “Besides, I admit I acted 
hastily. Now the box is here, but you have taken 
the treasure out.” 

Jack started at those words. 

“You got ahead of me,” continued Herkimer. 
“You looted the box after you stole it away from 
me. 

“I never stole the box!” cried the Spaniard. “It 
belonged to me and my sister by right of law. It 
should have come to us after Senor Miguel 
Montez died. But somehow the box did not 
reach us, and Senor Montez gave it to Senor 
Ranger. We were defrauded of our rights — my 
sister and I — by Senor Ranger, and we planned 
to get what was ours, for we were the heirs of 
Senor Montez. I cannot understand why he did 
not bequeath the treasure to us.” 

But Jack undestood. He remembered his fa- 
ther, in his letter, had stated that the Spaniard, 
Montez, believed that his relatives were all dead 
— that the last of them had perished in the Mar- 
tinique earthquake. Evidently Montez was mis- 
taken, and the Manacca brother and sister were 
the rightful heirs to the treasure box. 

“So,” went on the young Spaniard, “when I 
found I had been defrauded, I decided to act. 
You yourself drew up the papers in the office of 
the advocate — Judge Bennett — you drew up 
the papers by which we proved that the box was 


THE EMPTY BOX 


269 

mine, and promised to give the documents to 
Senor Ranger. So it was no theft to take the box 
which was mine.” 

“That paper was no good,” said Caleb. “I only 
drew it up to satisfy you and your sister. You 
caught me at the wrong time. In fact, you in- 
terrupted me when — well, there’s no use beating 
about the bush — when, in another half hour I’d 
have been out of the way with the treasure box 
myself. You just happened to come in when I 
was opening the safe.” 

“That paper — the document — you say It was 
no good?” asked the Spaniard, leaning forward 
so that his bonds strained. 

“No good at all,” answered Caleb, with a 
laugh. “I only drew it up to please you and your 
sister. She knows it was a fake. I sent word to 
her about it the other day.” 

Something like a groan came from the captive. 

“And I thought I was doing right,” he mur- 
mured, “Now Senor Ranger thinks I have stolen 
the box — the box that was mine. He thinks my 
sister a thief, too, perhaps.” 

“Very likely,” sneered Caleb. “Now, are you 
going to tell the secret?” 

The Spaniard did not answer. 

“Bring out the box,” commanded C&leb to his 
confederates. “Maybe when he sees it he’ll tell 


270 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Jerry Chowden went to some part of the cave 
which Jack and the captain could not see, and 
presently came back carrying the treasure box. 

“There it is!” exclaimed our hero, in a hoarse 
whisper. “They have it! Why, then, do they 
want the Spaniard to tell the secret of it?” 

“Hush!” cautioned the captain. “Let us see 
what happens.” 

The box was placed in front of the captive. He 
did not even seem to glance at it. 

“There it is!” cried Caleb. “Empty, as you 
can see,” and he threw back the cover. “Empty as 
a cracker box,” went on the clerk, bitterly. “Some- 
how, you found a way to get the treasure out. You 
fooled us, and hid it, and we now demand that you 
tell where it is.” 

“Never!” cried the Spaniard. 

Jack was looking at the empty box — the treas- 
ure box which had been his, and which he had 
risked so much to recover. Now all his efforts 
seemed useless. He was recalled from his mo- 
mentary fit of abstraction by what happened in 
the cave. The sight of the empty box seemed to 
enrage Herkimer. With a cry of anger, he raised 
the whip and rushed at the unfortunate captive. 


CHAPTER XXXI 

THE FLIGHT 

Jack could hardly hold himself back. He 
Sprang forward, as if about to leap into the cavern, 
but he felt the restraining hand of Captain Ree- 
ger on his shoulder. Jack turned his head away. 
He did not want to see the bound man tortured 
with the heavy whip. 

But he need have had no fear. 

No sooner had Caleb Herkimer sprang for- 
ward to administer the blows, than the Spaniard 
himself leaped away from the post, and stood free 
in the midst of his enemies! He had broken, or 
secretly cut, his bonds while they were preparing 
to flog him. A cry of astonishment, not unmingled 
with fear, came from his captors. 

“He’s loose!” cried Lavine. 

“Look out!” bawled Jerry Chowden. “He 
may have a knife and stab us ! Let me get out of 
his way! I didn’t do anything! Say, Mr. Span- 
iard, I didn’t take any of your treasure from 
the box! Please don’t hurt me,” and the big 
coward was actually blubbering, as he rushed 
about, seeking to find a place. 

271 


272 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Grab hold of him, some of you; can’t you?” 
demanded Jonas Lavine. “He must have slipped 
out of his ropes. Grab him!” 

“I’ll fix him !” cried Caleb. “Come on, Hemp, 
you and I can manage him!” 

“Stand back!” fairly yelled the former captive. 
“Don’t you dare to lay a hand on me !” 

With flashing eyes he faced his enemies. He 
did not seem at all afraid of them, though they 
outnumbered him four to one. They hesitated, 
and with a quick motion Senor Fernandez caught 
up a heavy stake. He swung this about his head. 

“I’ll strike down in his tracks any man who 
stops me!” he cried. “You thought I was going 
to submit tamely to the indignity of the lash! 
Know then, that the blood of kings runs in my 
veins! The Fernandez have never been 
whipped!” and he fairly hissed the words. “You 
tried to rob me of my treasure, but I have foiled 
you. Now I will bid you farewell! I have had 
enough of your company,” and he actually smiled 
at them. He was a brave man among cowards. 

Such was the spell of fear that he cast over 
them, that Lavine and the others actually per- 
mitted him to start to walk out. With his club 
held in readiness, Senor Fernandez advanced. He, 
however, kept a watchful eye on his enemies. 

Suddenly, as he neared the open, and appar- 
ently empty, treasure box, he dropped his club. 


THE FLIGHT 


273 


With a quick gesture he slammed shut the cover, 
and, picking up the box, ran on with all his might. 

“There he goes!” yelled Jerry Chowden, as if 
there was any doubt of it. 

“Stop him!” shouted Hemp Smith. 

“Throw something at him,” advised Lavine, as 
the safest course to pursue. 

“I’ll catch him!” yelled Caleb Herkimer, vin- 
dictively, and, tossing aside the whip, which he 
had not had a chance to use, he sprinted after the 
captive. The others in the cave trailed after him. 

The pusuers and the pursued were now out 
of the sight of Jack and the captain. 

“Come on!” cried our hero. 

“Where?” asked the commander. 

“Down to the beach ! They’ll be sure to come 
out there. We’ve got to help the Spaniard, and 
get at the bottom of this business!” 

“But if your treasure box is empty, what good 
is it? No wonder Caleb Herkimer was willing 
to dispose of it to you for a thousand dollars.” 

“Never mind. We’ll find out about that later. 
Come on.” 

They started down the slope, but had not 
reached the bottom before Nat and Bony were 
seen coming up, panting from a run. 

“We’ve found the cave entrance !” gasped Bony, 
permitting himself to crack a couple of joints. 


274 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Take us to it, quick!” called Jack. “Some- 
thing has happened!” 

“It’s quite a distance away,” added Nat. “Side- 
stepping centipedes ! It’s a big cave, though ! We 
went in a little way.” 

“Come on!” was all Jack answered. 

Slipping, sliding, stumbling, and all but rolling 
down the slope, went the four. Stones, dislodged 
by their progress, made a small avalanche. 

They found themselves on the beach, and 
sprinted along that, with Nat and Bony leading 
the way. There was no sight of the Spaniard 
and those pursuing him. 

“This way!” shouted Nat, making a turn. In 
the meanwhile Jack had told his chums what had 
happened in the cavern. 

Up the slope they started once more, toward 
the mouth of the cave, but they had not gone a 
dozen steps ere from a clump of bushes that hid 
the mouth of the cavern, burst a man. It was the 
Spaniard, and he carried the treasure box. 

At the sight of Jack and his chums he hesitated, 
and then, as the shouts of his pursuers rang out 
behind him, and as he caught a glimpse of them, 
he came forward again, but more slowly. 

“Shall we stop him?” asked Nat. Jack did not 
know what to answer. The things he had heard 
in the cave puzzled him. Had he any right to 
the box now? 


THE FLIGHT 


275 


Senor Fernandez still advanced. Then, from 
behind him, through the bushes, leaped Lavine, 
Jerry Chowden and the others. At the sight of 
our friends the former bully of Washington Hall 
stopped and turned pale. 

‘‘There he is! Come on!” yelled Caleb Herki- 
mer. Then he, too, saw Jack and the others. But 
he only hesitated a moment. 

Once more he leaped forward, and, as Senor 
Fernandez had slackened his pace, the former law 
clerk was able to catch up to him. Herkimer 
dealt the Spaniard a hard blow, the former cap- 
tive being unable to defend himself, because of the 
box. He went down in a heap. 

“Come on!” cried Herkimer to his confeder- 
ates. “Fve got the box. There must be some- 
thing valuable in it, or he wouldn’t stick to it so 
tight. Come on! We’ll find out the secret yet!” 

The Spaniard attempted to rise, and regain the 
box, but he was too weak. Motioning to his com- 
panions to follow, Caleb Herkimer slipped 
through the bushes once more. 

“Come on!” yelled Jack. “We must catch 
him! He has my treasure box!’ 

Captain Reeger, Nat and Bony turned to fol- 
low Jack. They gave no more attention to the 
Spaniard, who was now on his feet, seemingly 
dazed. 

After the fleeing ones raced our friends. They 


276 JACK RANGER'S TREASURE BOX 

burst through a fringe of bushes, to behold the 
beach and sea lying before them. And, in a little 
cove, snugly hidden from sight, was anchored the 
Dolphin-A nnabell! 

“There’s their boat!” cried Jack. “We must 
catch them!” 

But the others had the advantage. They raced 
down to the beach, upon which was drawn a small 
boat. Into this leaped La vine, Hemp Smith, Jerry 
Chowden and Caleb Herkimer, the latter still 
carrying the treasure box. They pushed off from 
shore. 

“They’re going to escape!” cried Jack, despair- 
ingly. 



•'THEY’RE GOING TO ESCAPE!” CRIED JACK, DESPAIRINGLY. 


Jack Ranger's Treasure Box 


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CHAPTER XXXII 

THE PURSUIT 

That this was the object of La vine and his 
crowd was soon apparent. Swiftly they rowed 
out to where the Dolphin was anchored, and, while 
our friends stood looking helplessly on, the rascals 
boarded the yacht. Jack could see them hoisting 
the treasure box on deck, and his last hope left 
him. 

“Oh, if I could only get it back!” he exclaimed. 

“But why do you want it, if it’s empty?” asked 
Nat. 

“Maybe it isn’t empty,” said Jack. “There is 
some secret about it, and I’m going to find out 
what it is.” 

“Then you’d better get a move on,” advised 
Bony. “Those fellows will soon be getting away 
from here.” 

Even as he spoke there sounded over the water 
the throb and hum of a motor in action. Then a 
chain cable rattled through the hawse hole, and 
the anchor came up dripping from the sea. A 
moment later the Dolphin swung away from the 
island. 


277 


278 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“And our yacht’s miles away!” exclaimed Jack, 
with a groan. “We should have raced back there, 
instead of standing here like a lot of chumps, to 
watch them escape.” 

“Well, it’s not too late,” declared Captain Ree- 
ger. “Come on; let’s get back to the Sea Bird . 
We can get under way in a few minutes.” 

“But we can never catch them,” was Nat’s 
opinion. “They have a faster boat.” 

“You never can tell what will happen in a mo- 
tor craft,” said the captain. “We have a chance. 
Come, we’ll take advantage of it.” 

They turned away from the beach. There was 
a line of foam under the stern of the Dolphin, and, 
as Jack looked at her speeding out to sea, he fan- 
cied he could see a hand waving at him, as if iiy 
mockery. 

They hurried to where they had landed in the 
small boat. Sam was there waiting for them in 
it. He had been out to the yacht, to tell Budge 
and the machinists to get ready for a quick de- 
parture, and had returned to shore. Rapidly Jack 
told him what had happened. 

“Then we’ll give them a chase!” cried Sam. 
“My uncle’s yacht is at your disposal, Jack, as 
long as you want, or even longer. We’ll catch 
these scoundrels yet!” 

As they were about to pull away, there sounded 
a shout up ,the beach. They all looked, and saw 


THE PURSUIT 


279 


Senor Fernandez running toward them. He was 
excitedly waving his hands, and trying to hold his 
tattered shirt about his body. 

“For heaven’s sake, gentlemen!” he cried, “do 
not leave me alone on this island. I will starve. 
Take me off. I know you all — or, at least, Senor 
Ranger, considers me his enemy, but you would 
not abandon even your worst enemy to a living 
death on this island. The others have gone — do 
not leave me !” 

“What shall we do?” asked Captain Reeger. 

“Take him aboard,” decided Jack promptly. 
“There is more to this mystery than we have yet 
discovered,” he added, in a low voice. “I do not 
believe he deliberately stole my treasure box. Be- 
sides, his sister gave me the clew where to find it. 
We can’t let him stay here to starve, even if he 
did try to rob me. Take him along.” 

So it was agreed, and the Spaniard, murmuring 
his thanks, entered the small boat. His face 
lighted up when Jack told him that they were 
about to set off in pursuit of Lavine and the 
others. 

“Ah, gentlemen!” he exclaimed, “if you catch 
them, I shall have something to say to them. They 
treated me shamefully. We must get the box away 
from them.” 

“But if the box is empty?” asked Nat, “what 
good is it to any one?” 


280 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Senor Fernandez looked at him quickly, and 
then at Jack. 

“Ah,” he said, quietly, “but the box is not 
empty.” 

“Not empty!” exclaimed our hero. “Why, I 
saw the cover open myself.” 

“Yes, but there is a secret about that box,” went 
on the Spaniard. “A secret that only I and my 
sister know, for we are the sole possessors of it. 
The treasure is still in the box!” 

“But — but ” began Captain Reeger, think- 

ing perhaps the Spaniard’s mind might have been 
turned by his suffering. 

“Wait,” advised Jack, quietly, “if there is a se- 
cret it will be time enough to reveal it when we 
have the box. And we are going to have no end 
of trouble in getting it, if I’m any judge.” 

“As you like,” answered the Spaniard. “I will 
reveal the secret whenever you wish, and ” 

“And also settle the ownership of the box?” 
asked Captain Reeger, quickly. 

“Indeed, yes,” was the reply. “I am aware that 
Senor Ranger lays some claim to it, and I am 
willing to have it settled in law, and also to explain 
my conduct, which, at times, must have been some- 
what of a puzzle to you,” and he looked quizzi- 
cally at Jack. 

“Well, I was a bit uncertain,” answered our 
hero. 


THE PURSUIT 


281 


“Can you tell me anything of my sister ?” asked 
Senor Fernandez, eagerly. “I left her in New 
York, to my great sorrow, and I have been un- 
able to communicate with her directly. I under- 
stood that she sailed for home ” 

“With us,” interrupted Jack. 

The Spaniard uttered a cry of surprise, and 
then Jack told him of the Spanish girl’s appeal, 
and how he had given her passage to Porto Rico. 

“You have made me your debtor for life,” said 
Senor Fernandez, feelingly. 

They were soon aboard the Sea Bird, where the 
Spaniard was given a new shirt. Up came the 
anchor, and in a few minutes the yacht was speed- 
ing around the island, to begin the pursuit of the 
Dolphin . 

“There she is !” cried Jack, who was searching 
the sea with a powerful glass. “She’s dead 
ahead!” 

“A stern chase is a long chase,” Captain Reeger 
reminded him. “We’ll crowd on all the speed 
possible. We may catch them.” 

All day long the chase was kept up, but the Sea 
Bird could not seem to draw any nearer to the 
Dolphin. The latter had too much of a lead. But 
there was this satisfaction, that she did not increase 
it. This showed that the vessel of our friends 
was making as good time as was the one con- 
taining the evildoers. If by some chance the for- 


2 82 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BCX 

ward boat should be delayed, there would be a 
different aspect to the chase. 

The sun began to go down in the west, and 
the day was drawing to a close. Jack and his 
chums, on the forward deck, took turns looking 
at the vessel of which they were in chase. As 
for the Spaniard, he, too, watched the pursuit 
with eager eyes. Budge and the machinists spent 
all their time in the motor compartment, using 
double quantities of oil, and keeping the machin- 
ery in proper “tune”, so that it would do its best. 
And, indeed, the yacht was skimming along faster 
than she ever had done before. It seemed as if 
she was alive, and realized that she must do her 
best. 

An hour passed. It was getting rather hazy, 
but still the Dolphin could be made out. Captain 
Reeger turned the wheel over to Sam, and came 
forward. Jack handed him the glass. 

No sooner had the commander put it to his 
eye, than he cried out: 

“By Jove, boys ! Something has happened !” 

“What?” demanded Jack, eagerly. 

“They’re stopping! They’ve stopped!” went 
on Captain Reeger. “Boys, they’ve had a col- 
lision with something or other. They are taking 
to the small boats! Their craft must be sinking! 
They’re going over the side ! Now’s our chance !” 


THE PURSUIT 283 

Jack took the glass, which the captain handed 
back to him. 

“It’s so!” he cried. “The Dolphin is sinking. 
She may go down before they can get off ! We 
must save them! I say, Budge, can you get any 
more speed out of her?” he called down the tran- 
som of the motor room. 

“We’ll try,” was the laconic answer of the odd 
lad. 

The motors did seem to hum and throb with 
faster beats. The screw did seem to beat the 
water more violently. 

Forward rushed the Sea Bird toward the sink- 
ing yacht, which contained Jack Ranger’s treasure 
box, and the rascals who had it. Could they be 
reached in time? 


CHAPTER XXXIII 

THE SECRET OF THE BOX CONCLUSION 

Eagerly, in the fast-fading light, did our 
friends peer forward at the wrecked vessel toward 
which they were speeding. In the engine room 
Budge and the two men did valiant service. Never 
had the Sea Bird sped along better. 

It was rapidly getting dark, but ere the last 
light of the sunset melted from the sky the pur- 
suing vessel was close enough to see that the ras- 
cals had all gotten safely off, and were in a small 
boat, rowing away from the wreck. Nor were 
they any too safe, for the Dolphin was rapidly 
settling, and the vortex might yet engulf them. 

“Row out of the way! Row out of the way!” 
cried Captain Reeger. “She’ll suck you down 
with her, if you don’t!” 

They heard his warning and heeded it. As 
quickly as they could they got their boat out of 
danger. It was hard work, for the small craft 
was crowded, until the gunwales were but a few 
inches from the water’s edge. She contained, be- 
sides Lavine, Hemp Smith, Caleb Herkimer and 
284 


SECRET OF THE BOX— CONCLUSION 285 

Jerry Chowden, two machinists who had operated 
the motor. 

Hardly were they a safe distance away when 
the Dolphin, which had been slowly settling, went 
under the water with a suddenness that was start- 
ling. A tumult of waves succeeded, and the boat 
containing the survivors danced about. 

“Oh, we’ll be upset! we’ll be drowned!” cried 
Jerry Chowden. “I wish I’d never come on this 
trip. Save me, somebody!” 

“Hush your noise, you big baby!” murmured 
Jonas Lavine. 

“But I don’t want to drown !” objected Jerry. 

“I say, will you take us aboard, if we promise 
to do just as you say?” asked Caleb Herkimer 
of Captain Reeger. “We’re at the end of our 
rope, and we give up.” 

He looked apprehensively about. The wind 
was rising and the sea was choppy. Night was 
coming on, and the prospect of spending it at sea 
in an open boat was not alluring. 

“What did you do with the box?” called Jack. 
He had a fear that it had gone down with the 
yacht. 

“It’s here,” answered Caleb, meekly. “It’s of 
no use, though. That Spaniard looted it when 
he got a chance.” 

Senor Fernandez, who heard this, smiled, and 
murmured : 


286 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Empty, eh? We shall see!” 

“Will you agree to do exactly as we tell you?* 4 
demanded Captain Reeger. 

“We’ve got to,” answered Lavine, with an un- 
easy laugh. “There is no choice.” 

“You’ll be treated as well as you deserve,” 
spoke the commander, “but when I’m going to 
have a lot of rascals on my boat I make provisions 
accordingly. I know you of old, Jonas Lavine.” 

“Oh, we’ll do anything if you’ll only save us!” 
whined Jerry, who was blubbering. “I’ll sweep 
the deck, and dust off the furniture or — or even 
wash the dishes.” 

“All right,” assented the commander. “Then 
the first thing to do is to pass up the treasure box. 
I’ll lower a rope.” 

“You’re welcome to it,” murmured Caleb Her- 
kimer. “I wish I’d never seen it. It’s no good, 
anyhow.” 

“Then you won’t regret parting with it,” was 
the captain’s grim reply. “Make that rope fast 
to it, and we’ll haul it up. Then I’ll have the ac- 
commodation ladder put over the side for you.” 

The treasure box was soon hoisted up. There 
was a moment of embarrassment between Jack 
and Senor Fernandez as it rested on the deck 
between them, but the Spaniard, with a courtly 
gesture, said: 

“Senor Ranger, take it to your cabin. At any 


SECRET OF THE BOX— CONCLUSION 287 

time you wish, I will reveal the secret of it to 
you.” 

Jack went below with his box, which he had 
recovered after so much effort and no little dan- 
ger. He hardly realized that he had it. What 
was its secret? Did it contain any treasure? 

A little later the conspirators came aboard. 
They were a very much humbled lot, and willing 
to do anything to be saved from the fate they 
feared. They were sent forward to a large store- 
room, wich, they were told, would be their living 
place until land was reached. Some cots were put 
in the place and they were given a supply of food. 
Captain Reeger said he was not taking any chances 
with such scoundrels, so they were searched, their 
weapons and knives were taken away, and the 
door was securely locked. 

Their two machinists were not treated in this 
way, as the latter were able to prove that they 
had had no hand in the proceedings, but had 
merely been hired with the boat, to work it 
wherever directed by Lavine. They were given 
berths with the crew of the Sea Bird , and very 
decent chaps they proved, too. They explained 
that in trying to escape Lavine had run the boat 
on hidden rocks, not knowing that part of the 
ocean, and being unversed in reading the charts. 
A big hole was torn in the bow of the Dolphin , 


288 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

through which the sea rushed rapidly in, barely 
giving them chance to escape. 

“There are a lot of things about this treasure 
box that puzzle me,” remarked Jack, “and one is 
how Caleb Herkimer came to be mixed up with 
Hemp Smith and the others. He didn’t know 
them before.” 

“I think I can tell you how that was,” said 
one of the machinists. “Herkimer got rather 
frightened after he had taken the box, at least so 
I gather from what I overheard them talking 
about from time to time. He wanted to get to an 
out-of-the-way place, and didn’t know just where 
to head for. He finally settled on Porto Rico, 
and there by chance he fell in with Lavine, who 
is always having something to do with ships, and 
Lavine, I understand, proposed to help Herkimer, 
who was in some sort of trouble about the box. 
Of course, Lavine wanted a share of the treasure. 
Later, Hemp Smith, as you call him, joined them, 
though I believe Chowden was with Lavine from 
the start.” 

“I suspected it might be something like that,” 
remarked Jack. “Well, we’ve broken up the com- 
bination, anyhow, and ” 

“You have your treasure box,” interrupted Sam, 
with a laugh. 

“I have the box, but not the treasure,” spoke 
Jack, “but I guess it can’t be helped.” 


SECRET OF THE BOX— CONCLUSION 289 

“Pardon, Senors,” spoke the Spaniard, in soft 
tones, “but might I request that you land me some- 
where on the island of Porto Rico, before you 
sail for home?” 

“Of course we will,” answered Jack. 

“Not only that, but I would be pleased to have 
you for my guests at Ponce. I have not a very 
pretentious place, but I would make you welcome 
— my sister and I. I believe she is at home now, 
though I sailed from New York without her.” 

Nat winked at Jack, who blushed a little. 

“And still further,” went on Senor Fernandez. 
“Senor Ranger said he had the box, but not the 
treasure. If you will permit me, I will show you 
that the treasure is still in the box, though, as for 
the ownership — well, that may be settled later.” 

“Yes, show us the secret of the box,” begged 
Sam. 

They went below into the big cabin, leaving 
Budge at the wheel, for the course was now an 
easy one to steer. The box, which had been the 
cause of so much trouble, was brought out, and 
placed on the table. Jack gazed curiously at it. 
It was the first good look he had ever had at it. 
The chest was substantially made, but the front 
part of it was marred and somewhat broken, as 
if in opening the lid the secret spring had been 
forced. That was what had happened, Senoi 
Fernandez explained. 


290 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

“Well, it certainly doesn’t seem to contain 
much,” said Jack, dubiously, looking into it when 
the lid was raised. 

“Wait,” advised the Spaniard, with a smile. “I 
refused to reveal the secret of the box to those 
scoundrels, but I will show you. They thought I 
had taken out the treasure and hid it, and that is 
why they threatened me. But the treasure is still 
in the box.” 

“Well, you’ll have to show us,” remarked Sam. 

“Immediately, Senor,” was the reply of the 
Spaniard. “May I borrow a knife?” 

Jack handed him one. The Spaniard opened 
the smallest blade, and then, carefully examining 
the box, he inserted the sharp steel into what 
seemed to be the centre of a bit of carving. Noth- 
ing happened, but the foreigner was not disap- 
pointed. He repeated this on all four sides of 
the box. Then, turning it on one side, he inserted 
the knife in some opening in the bottom, an open- 
ing so small that it was barely discernible. 

Turning the box once more in an upright posi- 
tion, Senor Fernandez remarked: 

“You are about to behold the treasure.” 

Bending forward, he pressed on two small 
screw heads that were in the pieces of brass 
that bound the corners of the box. Immediately 
there sounded a click, and before the astonished 
eyes of our friends the four thick sides of the box 


SECRET OF THE BOX — CONCLUSION 291 

fell outward from the top, being hinged on the 
bottom. 

And there, in the glare of the cabin lamp, was 
revealed a store of flashing jewels and shimmer- 
ing plates of gold, which caught the rays of light 
and multiplied them a thousand fold. Out upon 
the table they tumbled, gold, silver and precious 
stones, in four piles. The box had given up its 
secret treasure at the command of one who knew 
how to open it. 

For a moment no one spoke. It had happened 
so suddenly that it almost took away their breaths. 
Then the Spaniard, with a motion of his hand 
toward the box, said: 

“I told you it was not empty.” 

“There’s a million dollars there !” gasped Bony, 
excitedly, cracking his knuckles in double relays. 
“A million dollars!” 

“Not quite,” said Senor Fernandez, quietly. 
“All told, the jewels and gold are worth perhaps 
sixty thousand dollars.” 

“Well, we might as well settle right now to 
whom they belong,” said Jack, determinedly. “If 
they’re mine I want ’em, and if they’re yours I 
want you to have them. I overheard what you 
said in the cave, and I’m quite puzzled over it. 
I’d like to understand. Who got this box from 
Judge Bennett’s safe, anyhow?” 

“I think I can explain it all,” said the Spaniard. 


292 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

‘‘This box is known as the Fernandez treasure, 
and has been in the family for centuries. Sehor 
Montez was a distant relative, and, with my sister 
and myself, constituted the sole heirs to the box. 
Because of some legal entanglements my sister and 
I could not get our share while Sehor Montez was 
alive, but we hoped he would leave the box to us 
when he died. 

“But this did happen. Poor Sehor Montez 
expired, thinking that we had died in the earth- 
quake, though that was a mistake,” and he smiled 
at Jack. “We were at Martinique — my sister and 
I — but left before the disaster. That is how 
Sehor Montez made the error. He thought him- 
self the only living heir to the treasure, and be- 
lieved he could do as he liked with it. But I can 
prove our claim.” 

“And I’ll give you all the aid I can,” said Jack. 
“I only want what is rightfully mine.” 

“Montez evidently did not know the secret of 
the box,” went on the Spaniard. “He thought all 
the treasure in it was contained in the main part. 
Sometimes gold and jewels were kept there, but 
merely as a blind. The greater part was held in 
the four sides of the box, which are hollow, the 
sides being held in place by springs, operated, as 
you have seen, by the pressure of a knife placed in 
secret openings. My sister and I came from Porto 
Rico and I started west to obtain the box from 


SECRET OF THE BOX— CONCLUSION 293 

Montez, but arrived too late. He had died, and, 
thinking my sister and I had perished and that the 
box was his sole property, he gave it to a Senor 
Ranger — your father,” and the Spaniard looked 
at Jack. “Senor Ranger shipped the chest east,” 
he resumed, “but he did not know what treasure it 
contained. Then I returned east, still on the trail 
of my inheritance. 

“I arrived in Denton, and suspected that the 
box might be in the express office, but I could not 
confirm this for several days, as no one called for 
it, and I dared not enter and look around when 
the agent was there. I felt that the box was 
rightfully mine, and I made up my mind to take it 
wherever I found it. 

“However, you, Senor, with your chum, did 
finally call at the express office to claim the box. 
I had a glimpse of it, and was positive it was mine. 
I asked questions about matter arriving from the 
coast, merely so the agent would not be suspicious 
of me. At first, when I saw you, Senor Ranger, 
and your friend, carrying the box away, I took 
you for messengers, going to the office of Judge 
Bennett. Later I learned my mistake. 

“Then I decided to proceed legally, if I could, 
and, learning that the place where you had left the 
box was the office of a lawyer, I determined to 
appeal to him. If he would not give me the treas- 
ure that belonged to me, though, I had made up 


294 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

my mind to take it by force. I called at the office 
that night, rather late, as my sister and I were 
getting ready to leave town. We had gone under 
the name Manacca, which is part of our real name, 
as we did not want to arouse suspicion. As it was* 
a dentist in the judge’s building saw me, and 1 
was afraid he might think something was wrong, 
so I pretended I wanted a doctor. 

“I entered the office very quietly, and, as I went 
in, this Caleb Herkimer was much startled. The 
big safe was unlocked, and he had my treasure box 
before him on the floor, and was trying to open it. 
I commanded him to stop, and he acted very much 
frightened until I told him my errand. Later I 
learned that he was in the act of looting the safe 
when I went in, and that he had also made up 
his mind to take my treasure box, together with 
the judge’s money and papers. He had not locked 
the door, for he had no idea any one would come 
in the place after dark, and, if they did, I presume 
he would have said he was merely engaged on 
matters connected with the judge’s affairs. But 
he did not reckon on me. 

“After I had explained my title to the treasure 
chest, the lawyer’s clerk agreed that I had a right 
to it. That is, he seemed to do so, but I know, 
now, that he was deceiving me. He drew up a 
paper, at my request, and, later, my sister came 
in and signed it, that same night.” 


SECRET OF THE BOX — CONCLUSION 295 


“It was then she lost her hatpin,” explained 
Jack, for the benefit of his chums. 

“Yes,” answered Senor Fernandez, “a hatpin 
made from some of the jewels long in the posses- 
sion of our family. There are some like it here, 
and they were made by an ancient Indian tribe. 
My sister was heart-broken over the loss of her 
pin.” 

“I gave it back to her,” said Jack, and he ex- 
plained part of the circumstances. 

“Well,” resumed the Spaniard, “after the paper 
was signed I directed the clerk to show it to Judge 
Bennett and to you, explaining why I took my box. 
Then Senor Herkimer made a strange proposition. 
He said it would be more legal if he took charge 
of the box, and that he would act as my agent. 
Knowing nothing of law in your country, I con- 
sented. We left the office, my sister and I, and 
Senor Herkimer agreed to follow us to New York 
with the box. We left for New York, and so did 
he, but on his arrival there, instead of acting in 
my interests, he immediately fled, taking a vessel 
for Porto Rico, and carrying my box with him. 
That was where he made one mistake, for he did 
not know, or else he overlooked the fact that my 
home was on that island. 

“I determined to follow, and, hunting about for 
a vessel, I met with Lavine and the others, who 
had hired the Dolphin for some purpose of their 


296 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

own. I explained some of my circumstances to 
them, and promised to pay them well if they would 
help me to recover the treasure box. They agreed, 
and we sailed. I expected my sister to join me on 
the Dolphin , but she was delayed, and there was 
an error in dates, so she was left behind. I hoped 
she would be able to make her way to Porto Rico, 
and, it seems, she was,” and he looked gratefully 
at Jack. “But I never dreamed she would be 
robbed.” 

“Well, we made good time, but had a break- 
down, and put into some Southern port. I forget 
the name.” 

“Charleston,” said Jack. 

“Yes, that was it. Well, when we got under 
way again, it was in a vessel of a different name, 
for the Dolphin had been rechristened the Anna- 
bell. Lavine said he suspected that we were being 
followed by persons who would try to get the 
treasure away from us, so I was not suspicious, 
and was glad of the change. 

“After we left Charleston we made good time, 
until we arrived at Porto Rico. There, to my 
surprise, I learned that my sister had not arrived, 
for I had hoped she would take a regular steamer, 
and be there before me. I did not know that she 
and her nurse had no money, or that they came 
with you. 

“I remained at my home in Ponce but a few 


SECRET OF THE BOX— CONCLUSION 297 


hours and at once began the search for Caleb 
Herkimer. I did not find him, but it seems that he 
knew I was after him. He then unexpectedly met 
and formed an alliance with Lavine and those w T ho 
had brought me to Porto Rico, and they plotted 
to rob me of the treasure. For by this time Her- 
kimer had succeeded in opening the top part of 
the box, though he had to break it to do so. The 
top was empty, save for some papers of no value, 
but he concluded that these were the directions 
for finding the treasure, which he supposed was 
buried somewhere. He never thought to smash 
the box and look within the sides. He planned 
for the others to take the box to Cavern Island, 
and me with it, and there they hoped they could, 
in that lonely place, make me tell the secret. 

‘‘Herkimer went from Porto Rico to Cavern 
Island in a small boat he had engaged, before 
Lavine and the others took me there. I learned 
this later. They deceived me by telling me I 
would surely recover my treasure in the cave, and 
I foolishly believed them. But I took the precau- 
tion, before I left, of writing an account of the 
whole affair, explaining everything to my sister. 
I left this letter for her in our house, for I knew 
that, sooner or later, she would return to Porto 
Rico, though then I could not understand her de- 
lay, as I thought she had money enough to sail on 
a regular steamer. Marinello Booghoobally, or 


298 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

Hemp Smith, remained in Porto Rico, as a sort 
of spy, I think, after we started for Cavern Island. 
Up to then he had not met Herkimer.” 

“Then he did tell the truth on that one point,” 
commented Jack, and Nat nodded. 

“On my arrival at the island,” resumed the 
Spaniard, “I was at once made a captive, as you 
have seen, and the apparently empty box was 
shown to me. They thought I had the treasure 
from it. Then began a series of terrible days. I 
was starved and beaten by turns to make me tell 
the secret of the treasure, but I refused. Herki- 
mer, opening the chest, and seeing nothing but the 
empty space, when he hoped to find it full of gold, 
was wild with rage, as were those other scoundrels 
he had engaged to help him. They even sent the 
yacht back to Porto Rico, to get Hemp Smith, who 
arrived later. Lavine hoped that by some of 
Smith’s tricks he might discover the secret, but he 
could do no more than they, and I kept silent, 
hoping against hope.” 

“They must have been bringing Hemp the time 
we sighted the Dolphin headed for the island,” 
commented Sam. 

“That’s it,” agreed Jack. 

“I had a hope that, somehow, my sister might 
send aid to me,” went on Senor Fernandez, “when 
several days passed, and I did not return home.” 

“She was instrumental in our coming,” said 


SECRET OF THE BOX— CONCLUSION 299 


Jack, ‘‘but it was not exactly in the way you ex- 
pected. I came here to get the box I thought was 
rightfully mine, and I was afraid you had taken 
it unlawfully. Though I was sure, at first, that 
Caleb Herkimer had taken it.” 

“So he had,” interrupted the Spaniard. 

“And when he thought it was empty, he had 
the nerve to try to sell it back to you, Jack,” re- 
marked Nat. “Slithering soup tureens! But he 
is the limit!” 

“He thought it would be an easy way to make 
a thousand dollars,” suggested Sam. 

“I suspected something of that sort, when I 
saw what sort of a man his tool, Dupoy, was,” 
explained Jack. “He was as bad as Hemp Smith. 
But, Senor Fernandez, how did your sister come 
to conclude that I was the owner of the box?” 

“Because of the untruths that the scoundrel 
Herkimer told her,” was the reply. “He called 
on her, at our home in Ponce, as I have gathered 
from what he confessed to me in the cave, and he 
told her that I had no good title to the chest, that 
it was rightfully Mr. Ranger’s, and that I was 
deserted on the island with the chest. He pre- 
tended that he and the others would have no more 
to do with me. This alarmed my sister, and must 
have caused her to write to you as she did. Per- 
haps Herkimer imagined that my sister would 
come to the cave, and that they could get her into 


300 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

their power, and so use her to influence me to tell 
the secret. They imagined I knew where the 
treasure was buried. 

“There is little more to tell,” went on Senor 
Fernandez. Herkimer and the other scoundrels, 
working together, and keeping me a captive in the 
cave, tried their best to make me reveal the secret, 
but I would not. At last they resolved to resort 
to extreme measures. They were going to flog 
me. You, looking in the cave, saw what happened. 
I managed to loosen my bonds, and ran out. I 
hoped to be able to get to their yacht, and bribe 
the machinists on board to take me away. I did 
not know of your presence on the island. But it 
all ended well, and — well, the treasure is here. It 
is for the lawyers to say to whom it belongs.” 

“I don’t know what sort of a claim I have,” 
remarked Jack, “but my father seemed to think 
it was a good one. However, as you say, we will 
let the lawyers decide. And now ” 

“ ’Fiwasyoul’deat,” interrupted a voice at this 
juncture, and Budge, who had been relieved at the 
wheel, poked his head in the cabin. “Skeleton 
says supper’s ready long ago,” and, resuming the 
chewing of the gum, which he had interrupted to 
impart the last information, the odd lad disap- 
peared. 

“Well, I suppose we might as well eat,” ob- 
served Jack. 


SECRET OF THE BOX— CONCLUSION 301 

There was a merry party at supper on the 
yacht that night, and the story of the chase after 
the treasure box was told over again in detail. 
Good time was made back to Porto Rico, the yacht 
tying up at Ponce. After Lavine and the other 
plotters had been landed in jail, Senor Fernandez 
took Jack and his chums to the pleasant country 
house. It is needless to say that Miss Manacca 
was much surprised at the arrival of her brother 
with the treasure box. 

The following day lawyers were consulted, and 
legal documents examined. It developed that 
Senor Montez was entitled to a third share of the 
treasure, and that his transfer of this part to 
Jack’s father was perfectly legal. The other two- 
thirds, however,, belonged to the brother and 
sister, who were rejoiced to get it after so many 
hardships. 

The total value of the treasure proved to be a 
little over sixty-five thousand dollars, as some of 
the jewels were worth more than their intrinsic 
value because of the rare settings. A division of 
the wealth was made, Jack taking charge of the 
part that belonged to his father. 

After a few days in jail, Lavine and the others 
were released, as it was decided that it would be 
hard to prove anything against them. And as all 
of Judge Bennett’s valuable papers were recov- 
ered, and part of his five thousand dollars, he 


302 JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

cabled that he did not want his clerk prosecuted. 
Then Herkimer was warned never to show him- 
self in Denton again, and he was glad enough to 
promise. As for Hemp Smith, La vine and Jerry 
Chowden, they disappeared as soon as they were 
released. 

“Well, this was an outing long to be remem- 
bered, n said Sam one evening, as they sat on the 
verandah of the Fernandez home. “It was the 
best ever.” 

“Oh, maybe we’ll have some more exciting 
times,” spoke Bony. “You forget that Washing- 
ton Hall still exists, and that Professors Gerlach 
and Socrat are there.” 

Jack and his chums remained on the island of 
Porto Rico two weeks longer, and they enjoyed 
every moment of their stay, for Miss Fernandez 
and her brother were charming hosts. 

One pleasant day they set sail for home in the 
Sea Bird. Jack distributed some of his treasure 
among his chums, who had stood by him so loy- 
ally, and Budge considered himself the luckiest 
chap in the world. He had enough to set him up 
in business, which he had long looked forward to. 
The reward offered by Judge Bennett was divided 
among Captain Reeger and the crew of the Sea 
Bird. 

The treasure box itself Jack kept as a souve- 
nir, the Fernandez brother and sister insisting on 


SECRET OF THE BOX — CONCLUSION 303 

this, and he hid his most cherished possessions in 
it, for the secret lock on the cover was repaired, 
and many a person Jack puzzled with it. Of the 
jewels, Jack gave his three aunts each beautiful 
pins. 

“Let’s sing, fellows,” proposed Sam, as they 
were all seated on the deck one moonlight night, 
speeding toward New York. 

“We ought to have Miss Fernandez here with 
her guitar,” suggested Nat. 

“Bony will accompany us by cracking his knuck- 
les,” said Nat. 

“Get out! I will not.” 

“Fred Kaler ought to be here with his mouth 
organ,” said Jack, “but we can sing, anyhow.” 
And they started an old school chorus, “Down 
the Line for a Touchdown!” which they rendered 
with good effect. 

On sped the yacht, over the sea which was 
turned to silver by the moon, and while they are 
thus on deck, singing happy songs, and thinking 
of the strenuous times through which they passed 
in order to get possession of Jack Ranger’s treas- 
ure box, we will take our leave. 


THE END 


















TSn/Fi 


THE JACK RANGER SERIES 


By CLARENCE YOUNG 
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Lively stories of outdoor sports and adventure 
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1. JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL DAYS 

or The Rivals of Washington Hall 

You will love Jack Ranger — you simply can’t 
help it. He is bright and cheery, and earnest 
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2. JACK RANGER’S WESTERN TRIP 

or From Boarding School to Ranch and Range 

This volume takes the hero to the great West. Jack is anxioua 
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3. JACK RANGER’S SCHOOL VICTORIES 

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Jack gets back to Washington Hall and goes in for all sorts of 
school games. There are numerous contests on the athletic field. 

4. JACK RANGER’S OCEAN CRUISE 

or The Wreck of the Polly Ann 

How Jack was carried off to sea against his will makes a “yarn’l 
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5. JACK RANGER’S GUN CLUB 

or From Schoolroom to Camp and Trail 

Jack organizes a gun club and with his chums goes in quest of 
big game. They have many adventures in the mountains. 

6. JACK RANGER’S TREASURE BOX 

or The Outing of the Schoolboy Yachtsmen 

Jack receives a box from his father and it is stolen. How he re- 
gains it makes an absorbing tale. 

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THE KING OF THE 
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(Le Roi des Montagues) 

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THE FRED FENTON ATHLETIC SERIES 

By ALLEN CHAPMAN 


Fred Fenton the Pitcher Fred Fenton on the Crew 

Fred Fenton in the Line Fred Fenton on the Track 

Fred Fenton: Marathon Runner 

Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue. 



CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers 


New York 


THE MOTOR BOYS SERIES 

By CLARENCE YOUNG 

12 wo. Illustrated. Price per volume , $1.00, postpaid 

THE MOTOR BOYS 

or Chums Through Thick and Thin 

THE MOTOR BOYS OVERLAND 

or A Long Trip for Fun and Fortune 

THE MOTOR BOYS IN MEXICO 

or The Secret of the Buried City 

THE MOTOR BOYS ACROSS THE PLAINS 

or The Hermit of Lost Lake 

THE MOTOR BOYS AFLOAT 

or The Cruise of the Dartaway 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE ATLANTIC 

or The Mystery of the Lighthouse 

THE MOTOR BOYS IN STRANGE WATERS 

or Lost in a Floating Forest 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE PACIFIC 

or The Young Derelict Hunters 

THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE CLOUDS 

or A Trip for Fame and Fortune 

THE MOTOR BOYS OVER THE ROCKIES 

or A Mystery of the Air 

THE MOTOR BOYS OVER THE OCEAN 

or A Marvelous Rescue in Mid-Air 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE WING 

or Seeking the Airship Treasure 

THE MOTOR BOYS AFTER A FORTUNE 

or The Hut on Snake Island 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE BORDER 

or Sixty Nuggets of Gold 

THE MOTOR BOYS UNDER THE SEA 

or From Airship to Submarine 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON ROAD AND RIVER 

or Racing to Save a Life 

THE MOTOR BOYS AT BOXWOOD HALL 

or Ned, Bob and Jerry as Freshmen 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON A RANCH 

or Ned, Bob and Jerry Among the Cowboys 

THE MOTOR BOYS IN THE ARMY 

or Ned, Bob and Jerry as Volunteers 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON THE FIRING LINE 

or Ned, Bob and Jerry Fighting for Uncle Sam 

THE MOTOR BOYS BOUND FOR HOME 

or Ned, Bob and Jerry on the Wrecked Troopship 

THE MOTOR BOYS ON THUNDER MOUNTAIN 

or The Treasure Box of Blue Rock 


$ 

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JpSSMOTOR 



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CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY. Publishers 


New York 


The Webster Series 

By FRANK V. WEBSTER 





Mr. WEBSTER’S style is very much 
that of the boys’ favorite author, the late 
lamented Horatio Alger, Jr., but his tales 
are thoroughly up-to-date. 

Cloth. 12mo. Over 200 pages each. IIIua< 
trated. t Stamped in various colors. 

Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid./ ■ 


Only A Farm Boy 

or Dan Hardy's Rise in Life 
The Boy From The Ranch 

or Roy Bradner's City Experiences 
The Young Treasure Hunter 
or Fred Stanley’s Trip to Alaska 
fThe Boy Pilot of the Lakes 

or Nat Morton’s Perils 


Tom The Telephone Boy 

or The Mystery of a Message 

Bob The Castaway 

or The Wreck of the Eagle 
The Newsboy Partners 

or Who Was Dick Boxtl 
Two Boy Gold Miners 

or Lost in the Mountains 


The Young Firemen of Lakeville 

or Herbert Dare’s Pluck 

The Boys of Bellwood School 

or Frank Jordan’s Triumph 


Jack the Runaway 

or On the Road with a Circus 
Bob Chester’s Grit 
i or From Ranch to Riches 

Airship Andy 

or The Luck of a Brave Boy 


High School Rivals ^ 

or Fred Markham’s Struggles} 
Darry The Life Saver 

or The Heroes of the Coas $ 
Dick The Bank Boy 
^ * or A Missing Fortuny 

Ben Hardy’s Flying Machine' 

or Making a Record for Himself 


Harry Watson’s High School Days 

or The Rivals of Rivertown 


Comrades of the Saddle 

or The Young Rough Riders of the 
Plains 

Taylor at West Point 

or The Old Army Officer’s Secret 
The Boy Scouts of Lennox 
or Hiking Over Big Bear Mountain 


The Boys of the Wireless ^ 

or a Stirring Rescue from the Deef} 
Cowboy Dave 

or The Round-up at Rolling River^ 
Jack of the Pony Express s 
or The Young Rider of the MoumZ 
tain Trail / - 


The Boys of the Battleship, 

or For the Honor of Uncle Sam , 


SUPPLES & LEON CO„ Publisher* >' 


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NEWYORMC 










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